


Hoshi Sentai Poppinranger / 星戦隊ポピンレーンガー

by Zerodyne



Series: Tokudori: Super Sentai [1]
Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game), Super Sentai Series
Genre: Action, Angst?, Drama, F/F, Fluff, Gen, Mystery, Sleepovers, Slice of Life, Super Sentai AU, but reading it without prior knowledge of sentai is fine, idk this has been a rollercoaster to write, lots of references, michelle becomes a giant robot, ran is very angsty, very self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 55,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24691591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerodyne/pseuds/Zerodyne
Summary: The five members of Poppin'Party found themselves a new responsibility— to protect Earth from an invading army. With the power of Miracle Crystals in their hands, could they stop this evil threat?( An Alternate Universe series where Popipa is a Sentai/Power Rangers team. )
Relationships: Hanazono Tae/Shirasagi Chisato, Ichigaya Arisa/Toyama Kasumi, Minor or Background Relationship(s), PolyPa - Relationship, tiny hints of misarimi
Series: Tokudori: Super Sentai [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1821700
Comments: 15
Kudos: 54





	1. Call Upon Your Power! Unite, Poppinranger!

**Author's Note:**

> After putting it off for a while, I'm finally writing this AU! This will be based on the general idea of Super Sentai and not a particular season of it, so you can hop right in without any prior knowledge of the series.
> 
> This also draws a few inspirations from other tokus, mainly Kamen Rider and Ultraman. Expect some references here and there.
> 
> Anyways, happy reading! Feedbacks are always appreciated. 🙏

“Yaaay! Another successful live!”

The sun was about to set as Poppin'Party walked out from Galaxy Livehouse. Their overall mood was heightened after one particularly festive performance. Even though they're quite exhausted by the end of it, they had a lot of fun.

“Kasumi... that's like, the fourth time you cheered about that,” Arisa complained, rolling her eyes.

“Say it one more time to make it five,” Tae added.

“Okay~!” Kasumi nodded, “another successful live!”

While Arisa grimaced, Saaya gave a hearty chuckle. “It was a pretty wild one,” she reminisced, “I don't remember the last time we were asked with two encores!”

With a jolt, Arisa squirmed. “Urk— don't remind me of that, my fingers are still in pain...”

“Ooh! I'll massage your hand!” offered Kasumi, eyeing Arisa's hands. 

As a response, she withdrew them away from Kasumi's sights. “Nooo way! Are you crazy?!”

Thinking it was a good idea, Tae decides to chime in. “I'll do it too! I know how to massage my bunnies.”

“I'm **NOT** a bunny!” howled Arisa.

Saaya laughed again, before noticing that one of their members had her attention elsewhere.

“Rimi-rin?”

“A—ah, yes?”

Rimi was intently staring at an alleyway before that call yanked her back from her reverie. She looked... puzzled, something that Saaya noticed right away. 

“What's wrong?” she asked. The remaining three ceased their talks about hand massaging and turned towards the petite bassist.

“N, no... nothing...!” Rimi shook her head and nervously smiled. “It's just... I think I saw something move there...”

She turned and pointed at the alleyway. The rest of them peered over for a closer look... but they were unable to find anything out of the ordinary.

“...maybe it's a stray cat,” Arisa deduced.

“Or a spirit!” Tae chimed in, again.

“A spirit?!” squealed Kasumi. 

Arisa lets out a long sigh. “Can you stop responding to what I said with something nonsensical, O-Tae...?”

Though the three of them disregarded what Rimi had seen, she seemed firm on her beliefs. She was certain that there's something there... something that's not a stray cat.

Suddenly... 

“HELP!”

A loud wail can be heard from the back of the alley, alerting the five of them. It sounded very girly and childlike. 

They all turned at each other, shock on their faces.

“We gotta take a look!” Kasumi was the first to shout, before taking it upon herself and running straight to the alleyway. The rest followed, until they reached a dead-end. The five of them then began scanning all over their surroundings. At first, they didn't see anything out of the ordinary... stacks of cardboard boxes, a trash bin, and some vending machines. 

“H—help...!”

They heard the call for help again, and Kasumi immediately pointed to where it came from.

“Inside the box!” she shouted. Within seconds they rounded upon the stack of boxes. Kasumi immediately opened the topmost box to reveal...

“A... teddy bear?”

That's the best way to put what they've seen— it's a cute and fluffy bear plush with brown fur, and a silver bracelet on its right arm. 

The five of them threw confused glances at each other. Was this the one that asked for help?

“Ah, you! All of you!”

The teddy bear began to speak in the voice from before, causing Poppin'Party to recoil.

“I—It talked?!” yelled Arisa.

“Girls, I have no time to explain! You need to get me out of here!” the bear disregarded their shocks. Whatever situation this bear is in, they sounded very panicked.

“O—out here... where?” Rimi asked nervously.

“Anywhere! Anywhere you can hide me!” shouted the bear, “wherever's fine, just don't let the Buzzes get me!”

“The Buzzes? What's that?” asked Saaya. She's still reeling over the fact that this bear is talking to her... but she tried her best to keep up with their request.

“No time to explain, there's— oh no, they're here!”

The five of them began glancing at each other, before turning around. The sight they encountered... wasn't pretty.

“A... a monster?!” Arisa screamed. She wasn't wrong, the creature before them looked pretty monstrous— a silver humanoid body with spikes adorning its shoulder plates, and a head in the shape of a cresent moon.

“Give me that thing!” said the moon monster in a rough voice, pointing at the doll. 

Kasumi glanced at the other four, then towards the doll. This doll must be very important that this weird monster is hell bent on obtaining it... but what is he going to do with it? 

“Are you trying to do bad things with it?!” Kasumi shouted back, much to the surprise of the others. 

“What if I do, huh?!” the monster bit back impatiently. “You girls better don't try to stop me!” 

Despite the threats, Kasumi stood firm in her place. She has a hunch— that doesn't come often —that danger will come if she handed over the doll. 

“H—hey... what should we do?” Saaya asked nervously, peering at the doll. She, too, didn't want to hand this doll over... but this monster looks very threatening. 

The doll suddenly gave a sigh. It seemed like it just came to a conclusion. 

“Looks like I have no choice,” they said, “all five of you, put your hands together above me!”

The five of them turned towards the doll, confused by what they meant. 

“What do you—”

“Quickly, do it! Before that Buzz comes!” the bear urged. 

“A—alright!” Kasumi nodded, putting her hands first above the teddy bear.

“Let's do this,” Tae continued, piling her hand above Kasumi's. Rimi followed suit, along with Saaya.

“...ugh, can't really break out from this one, can I?”

Reluctantly, Arisa completed the pile. At once, a binding light emitted from the bear, slowly engulfing their hands. The light formed a small circle around their wrists before breaking apart, revealing a silver bracelet with a gemstone of various colors.

“Whoa...”

Kasumi could feel a faint warmth emitting from the bracelet. Not only that, she also felt... different. As if something within her has changed— or rather, grown. She could feel her senses heightened, her strength amplified. She felt stronger than ever before.

Her expression was mirrored amongst her bandmates, in awe at how wonderful this new strength feels.

“Graaah! You dare to activate the powers of the Miracle Crystals?!”

But their moment of admiration was cut short as the aforementioned Buzz came storming towards them.

For some reason, Kasumi could feel her instincts taking the wheel. She raised her right arm and pointed it towards the Buzz, her palm open wide. Within moments, a surge of red spark burst from her hand, flying straight into the Buzz and exploding upon contact.

“T—that's insane...!” Arisa muttered in awe. Even Kasumi looked surprised— she wasn't sure what just happened... but she did that. She just shot a ball of something at that monster... and it feels awesome. 

“Use that Miracle Riser on your wrist to transform!” the doll commanded. “Reach out for your courage, and call upon its power!”

The five of them nodded, before storming out from the alleyway and into the streets in front of Galaxy. 

The Moon Buzz staggered to his feet. “You... annoying bunch of girls!” he said, sounding absolutely livid.

“We're going to stop you, right here and now!” Kasumi shouted back. Letting her instincts take control again, she tapped the red crystal on her bracelet. It shined brightly, the light slowly enveloping her body. She could feel the power she called materializing... and before she knew it, she's inside a shining red armor, with a star-shaped black visor and yellow stripes on her arms.

“What the... who are you?! How could you use that power?!”

Kasumi glanced at her hands, her arms, her whole body. She can feel it... that sparkling, heart-pounding feeling all over again.

“Call me... **Sparkling Red!** ” she declared.

“Sparkling Red...?!”

“She's not the only one!”

Tae stepped forward and tapped her crystal. At once, a blue tinted light absorbed her, before it dissipates into a shiny blue armor with a rabbit-head shaped visor and green-white stripes over her torso. “This one's called **Bunny Blue!** ” she cheerfully chanted.

“I'll join in too!” Saaya tapped her crystal. This time, the light was yellow... and she reveals a yellow armor with a double vertical line shaped visor and white stripes. “ **Beating Yellow!** ”

“W—we won't lose to you!” Rimi did the same, engulfed in pink light. Her armor was pink colored, with a heart-shaped visor and brown stripes. “ **Chocolate Pink!** ”

“Sheesh, what a pain...” Arisa sighed, before she too was engulfed in light. Her armor was colored light purple, with a leaf-shaped visor and a green gradient from her elbows to her hands. “ **Natural Purple!** ”

“Our sparkling and heart-pounding feeling is going to stop you today!” Kasumi chanted. “ **Hoshi Sentai, Poppinranger!** ”

The Moon Buzz recoiled. “Gah...! Come at me!”

“Haaaaa!”

The Rangers charged towards the Moon Buzz, whom shot off the spikes from his shoulderpads as retaliation. They home in towards Tae, whom dodged them effortlessly with a backflip, landing smoothly on the ground. 

Saaya gasped. “Since when can you do that, O-Tae?!”

“Hmmm... I dunno,” Tae shrugged. “Just felt natural.”

“I know that feeling!” Kasumi chirped. “It's like, my body can do things it couldn't do before! Watch!”

Kasumi leapt up to the air and landed a flying kick at the Moon Buzz, knocking it back a few feet. 

“That's so cool, Kasumi-chan!” said Rimi, as they gathered together. “It seems like... this power is enhancing all of our abilities!”

“Well... let's finish that freak, shall we?” said Arisa, as a purple spark of energy surged from her hand. Kasumi nodded, charging up her energy blast as well. “Let's go, everyone!”

The remaining three followed suit, aiming their palms towards the Moon Buzz. “C—curse you...!” he blabbered, barely able to get back on his feet.

“Take this! **Poppin Blaster!** ”

Shouting in unison, the five of them shot their blasts at the same time straight towards the Moon Buzz.

“NOOOOOO!”

With a clean hit, the Moon Buzz exploded into tiny pieces. It's over; they've won.

“Yes! We did it!” Kasumi thrusted her fist to the air before the five of them huddled together, ecstatic over their first victory. 

* * *

Somewhere, inside a dimly lit building... 

“My Lord... we've lost contact with Moon Buzz,” said a woman in a maid outfit, bowing her head towards a figure in the shadows. “The last time we've heard of him, he was battling against warriors using the Miracle Crystals.”

“That incompetent fool...” uttered the figure in the shadows, his voice deep and collected. “Hmph, no matter. Even with the Crystalizer, humanity stands no chance.”

“Pardon me for asking, but... what is it that you're planning to do, My Lord?”

“Simple. I shall gather my fighters from across the galaxy to liberate this planet... and claim it when it's ripe for the picking. We'll start with those crystal warriors.”

“I see...”

“That being said... let's invite a few of them right away, shall we? Send in Lion Buzz and Ocean Buzz to terminate those warriors.”

The maid bowed again. “Understood, **Lord Kaibuzu**.”


	2. An Unexpected Crisis?! Fight to Protect!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The members of Poppin'Party realized the dire situation they're in the middle of. How would they respond?

“Here's good?”

“Yeah! Wowzers, this is one comfy place you got here!”

The members of Poppin'Party are now gathered in the basement of Ryuseido, their usual place for practice. It's getting dark outside— they rarely ever gathered here this late, but the reason warrants it, even when they're already exhausted from a live performance on top of a brief scuffle with some strange looking monster.

Now, the brown teddy bear is placed sitting atop a sofa. The five girls stared at them, waiting for them to begin their explanation.

“Well...?” Arisa decided to pursue the subject. “Are you going to explain to us now?”

“Ah, yes, yes,” the teddy bear spoke. It was as motionless as before— this doesn't seem to be a magical robot bear that can move on their free will. “So... I'll start with my name. You can call me... **Kris!** ”

“Kris?” muttered Kasumi. That's an odd name...

“Yeah, yeah. I'm what you can call a **Crystalizer** ,” Kris continued. “I have a... something within me that can create what's called a Miracle Crystal. It's that shiny thing on your Miracle Riser that grants you your powers!”

The five of them glanced instinctively towards their bracelets— their so-called Miracle Risers.

“Those Miracle Crystals contain the spirit energy of the warriors from the past. That's why you have all of those battle knowledges!”

“Along with our aliases...” muttered Saaya.

“Yeah— about that, can you girls keep your identities as Poppinranger a secret?” Kris requested. “Would be bad if secret got out about these crystals...”

“Of course!” Kasumi nodded briskly.

Arisa groaned. “Ugh, you're definitely gonna blabber about it in a few days...”

“By the way... could you tell us about the Buzzes?” asked Saaya.

“Ah... I was gonna tell you about that,” said Kris, clearing their throat. “Simply put, they're intergalactic warriors, henchmen of Lord Kaibuzu.”

“Kai... buzu?” Tae repeated.

“Yes. Lord Kaibuzu is the leader of the **Buzz Force** , an intergalactic army has been liberating countless galaxies. Their next target is Earth, and he'll stop at nothing to make this planet his own.”

That revelation slammed them like a bombshell. Nobody spoke a word... they all just stared at each other, anxious looks written all over their faces. It seemed too grim to be true, and yet Kris was direly serious about it.

“Ah, but you don't have to worry!”

Reading the intensity in the room, Kris immediately spoke again.

“You're all chosen by the Miracle Crystals to be a part of this battle against Lord Kaibuzu. You have the power to stop him, as Poppinrangers!”

Kasumi was reminded of the surge of power she felt when she first transformed. It really felt like she could do anything... maybe, even defeating this Lord Kaibuzu? 

“We have the power...” she muttered. “We won't let him take away our world!”

“...do we really have a chance?”

Everyone turned towards Arisa, who bowed her head and gazed at the floor. Out of the five, she was the one who looked the most uncertain about this.

“What do you mean? We have this power given to us, Arisa!” Kasumi argued. “We can do any—”

“Cut it out!!”

The last time Arisa shouted that loud, it was when Rimi overwhelmed her with lyrics. She looked terrified and angry at the same time.

“You... you think this is as simple as being a band?!” she continued to wail, her voice quavering. “You expect us to fight against alien monsters and risk our lives like it's nothing?! I... I didn't sign up for this!”

“Arisa...” Kasumi muttered lowly. In her excitement over this newfound strength, she has forgotten about her friends' feelings... 

“Um, Kris...” Saaya called, breaking the brief silence they had. “Do we have a chance... to think this over? We're just high school students, and... this is a huge responsibility...”

“I saw your courage and willpower within your hearts, which is why I'm certain you're all fit for this task.” Kris uttered, pausing a bit before continuing. “...however, I won't force you if you don't want to do this. I'll wait for your final answer tomorrow afternoon.”

The five of them absently stared everywhere they could, except each other. They're deep in thought, thinking over their answers.

Kasumi was already resolute in her beliefs... but if her friends don't, then she won't be able to carry on. What will she do...?

* * *

Kasumi was unable to sleep that night. She was restless, thinking over her resolution. Even as she walked to school the next morning, Arisa's words kept ringing inside her mind.

Risk their lives... Kasumi hadn't thought of it that way. The power she felt when she became Sparkling Red was so mesmerizing, she really thought that she could easily deal with the threat from Lord Kaibuzu. 

But she didn't even know how powerful this Lord Kaibuzu is... or even his other Buzzes. Maybe they're even stronger than the first one? Maybe they don't have enough strength to stop this enemy? 

They're just high schoolers, that's what Saaya said. Is this too much for them? 

The thought carried over to lunch break, where only four of them gathered for their usual lunchtime.

“...anyone seen Arisa?” Saaya asked, concerned about her well-being. That memory of Arisa yelling was still vivid within their minds.

Kasumi shook her head. “She keeps avoiding me after classes...”

“She doesn't seem to want to talk to me, either...” said Rimi, somberly frowning.

“I can't blame her,” Saaya heaved a sigh. “It's really scary when you think about it... we're the only ones who can stop the world from being destroyed.”

“I have decided.”

Tae, as usual, said something out of nowhere and surprised the remaining three. She looked determined.

“D—decided...?” Saaya repeated.

Tae gave a nod. “I'm going to become a Poppinranger. I can't let Lord Kaibuzu liberate our world. Because if he does, there will be no more bunnies.”

“Bunnies...?” Rimi tilted her head, unsure at what she had just heard.

“Yes,” Tae nodded again, still with that innocently determined expression. “Not only bunnies, but PoPiPa too. Everything I love will disappear. That's why I'll fight, until Lord Kaibuzu is gone for good.”

Realization dawned upon the three's faces. Lord Kaibuzu's liberation of Earth... would mean that all the things they love, all the things they cherished... will be gone in an instant. 

“I... I'm not having any of that either!” Kasumi nodded vigorously, the sparks of her spirit returning. “PoPiPa, CiRCLE, Galaxy, this school, our friends... they will suffer if we don't act!”

“I agree,” Saaya replied, her eyes lit with fierce determination. “I've been thinking about it as well... my life isn't the only thing on the line. I have friends I want to protect too... and I can do it with this power.”

“ _We_ can do it, Saaya-chan!” corrected Rimi. “To be honest... I was just as scared as Arisa-chan... but we're chosen because of our courage, right? I'm... I'm going to believe in my courage and fight!”

Saaya grinned widely. “That settles it, then! But... what about Arisa?”

“We can't fight as one without her!” said Kasumi, clenching her fist. “PoPiPa, and now Poppinranger... is the five of us. I'm going to try and convince her!”

**BOOM!**

An explosion suddenly jolted them awake from their lunch break. They stood up and saw a horde of white, faceless monsters storming into the school, attacking the students on their way. Among them was a humanoid monster with brown fur all over his body, two long claws protruding from his forearms and a head in the shape of a lion, complete with the mane.

“Come out, crystal warriors!” the monster roared. It had a very coarse voice. “ **Lion Buzz** will strike you down!”

The four glanced at each other. They're the ones being hunted down.

“I'll go find Arisa!” Kasumi spoke up. “You guys take care of them! I'll join up as soon as I can!”

The other three nodded before chanting, “ **Miracle Change!** ” and transforming into their Poppinranger suits.

“Leave it to us, Kasumi!” said Saaya reassuringly, before the three charged towards the horde of white monsters.

Meanwhile, Kasumi ran the opposite direction, scrambling to find Arisa amidst the sea of panicking students.

“Wait... that...?”

Kasumi spotted something— or rather, someone inside their classroom, overlooking the battle from the window. That blond hair tied to a twintail... no doubt about it, that must be Arisa. She increased her pace at once, storming to where that classroom is— their own classroom.

Once she reached the door, she wasted no time in breaking in. “Arisa!”

Arisa screamed, looking extremely furious at first. “Don't scare me like that!” she yelled.

“Sorry, but we need you to fight!” Kasumi continued on, urgency thick in her voice.

Arisa shifted her glance aside and held her shoulder nervously. “I... I don't know...” she muttered. “The way I yelled at you last night... and now seeing you guys fight so fearlessly... I feel like a coward now.”

“You're not a coward!” Kasumi shook her head, moving closer towards Arisa. “I get it, I get that you're scared about this. I'm... I'm scared too, you know!”

Arisa's eyes widened as they flew back towards Kasumi, who's now within a foot away from her. 

“But, with this power... I want to protect the star beat I've been trying so hard to get,” Kasumi continued, sternly staring at the other. “I want to protect those who I cherish from harm... like this school!”

“Kasumi...” Arisa muttered, her jaw falling wide open.

“I might be scared... but as long as I have that determination to protect, I'll continue on fighting!” 

Suddenly, the classroom door burst open. They turned to see... a shiny blue, hunched over monster with sharp fangs and two tentacles protruding from its back.

“You dumb kids shouldn't lounge around in the middle of this! Not until the rest of those Poppinrangers show up!” the Buzz yelled. His voice was rather nasally and high pitched.

“You're looking at one right now!” Kasumi shouted back, before tapping her Riser bracelet. “ **Miracle Change!** ”

A short flash of light, and Kasumi was inside her Sparkling Red suit again. 

“Oho! So you're one of them, eh?!” the Buzz stepped forward. “It's time for me, **Ocean Buzz** , to beat you down!”

“I'm not letting you destroy this school! Haaaaa!”

Kasumi dashed as fast as she could towards the Buzz, and the two began trading blows. This is definitely more powerful than the Moon Buzz from yesterday, because he's not going down without a fight.

Meanwhile, Arisa watched quietly in the distance, her quavering hand gripping her Riser. She's still uncertain, that's for sure...

“Uagh!”

Kasumi was thrown to the back of the classroom, knocking over a bookshelf as she hit the wall and fell to the ground. 

“Kasumi!!” Arisa cried, as Ocean Buzz approached the downed Kasumi.

“N... no...! I'm not going to give up!” 

Kasumi staggered to her feet, getting ready to face the Buzz again. He laughed in response.

“Stupid girl! You can't win!”

Ocean Buzz swung one of his tentacles and slapped Kasumi, sending her crashing through the classroom window and falling to the schoolyard. 

Kasumi couldn't figure out where the pain starts and where it ends— all she knows is that her whole body hurts. She struggled to move her body, as Ocean Buzz decends before her.

“It's over, hee hee hee!”

Ocean Buzz raised his tentacles, about to finish her off...

But all of a sudden, he received a blast on his back, sending him flying away from Kasumi. Once the dust settled, Kasumi squinted her eyes to see...

“Arisa?!”

Arisa, in her Natural Purple suit, approached her and took her hand.

“You idiot,” she said rather rashly, “you worry so much about protecting those around you, you forgot about those who want to protect you.”

“Ah... Arisa!” Kasumi chirped happily. While covered in her helmet, she gave the other the widest smile she could muster.

“Yeah, yeah, save it for later,” Arisa waved it off, pulling Kasumi up and helping her get back on her feet.

“Curses! Another one?!” Ocean Buzz groaned, getting back up himself. “Fine then, I'll just defeat you both!”

Ocean Buzz stretched his tentacles sideways. They began emitting a blue light, before shooting out a barrage of water blasts to the air, flying at the two Rangers at full speed.

“Not gonna happen, you ugly thing,” said Arisa, her hands outstretched. She conjured a translucent energy barrier, shielding them from the water blasts.

Ocean Buzz recoiled in surprise. “Geh?! Blocked so easily...?!” 

“Don't think you can get away with harming my friends,” Arisa declared, before turning to Kasumi. She didn't need to say anything, and Kasumi nodded.

Together, they ran towards Ocean Buzz, leapt to the air and zoomed in with a flying side kick, their legs both engulfed in red and purple light. The kick connects, hurling Ocean Buzz away to the sky before exploding into pieces.

The two landed on the ground as they finished their combined kick. 

“We did it, Arisa! We did it!”

Kasumi, unable to contain herself, glomped Arisa without prior warning, wrapping her tightly in her arms.

“Whoa— hey!!” Arisa jolted in anger at first... but decided to not wriggle out from this one, smiling sheepishly.

“Yeah... we did it.”

* * *

Elsewhere, Lion Buzz was pinned against the wall, his henchmen no longer in sight. Tae, Rimi and Saaya are on their stances, ready to throw down once more.

“You guys! Sorry we're late!”

Kasumi and Arisa ran into the scene, much to the joy of the three of them.

“Arisa-chan...!” Rimi welcomed her, while Tae gave her a pat on the shoulder.

Slightly flustered, Arisa tried to redirect their attention. “Um, guys... we have this freak to worry about.”

“More of you?!” Lion Buzz spat with anger. “That's it, I'm retreating. I'll destroy you next time, Poppinrangers!”

“Wait!”

But too late, Lion Buzz disappeared within a flash of white light.

“Well... I'll take that as a win!” Kasumi cheered. 

“He'll come back, though,” warned Tae.

“Then we'll beat him for good...!” replied Rimi. The rest of them nodded in agreement, before departing from clear view.

* * *

“So...? You've made your decision?”

They're now back in Ryuseido's basement, standing firmly in front of Kris. They've left them there overnight to hide them from the Buzzes.

“Yeah!” said Kasumi, nodding along with the rest. “We're going to fight... to protect this world, and those on it!”

Kris sighed in relief. “Very good! I knew I could trust you all.”

“So... what now?” Tae asked.

“Now... I need you to find my true body,” Kris explained. “This teddy bear is not too shabby, but it's not my true form... without it, you won't be able to access the true potential of your powers.”

“You know where it is?” Arisa cropped up, folding her arms.

“Yes, I do. Tomorrow, you'll set your course to... **CiRCLE Livehouse**!”


	3. A New Power! Poppin' Engine Combine!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Poppinrangers gather up their full power, a familiar foe returns! Can they stop him this time?

“...then the yellow one goes BAM! And the ugly lion monster gets thrown away like a chump!”

Ako is having the time of her life reenacting a video of the Poppinrangers in action right in front of Roselia, as they sat on CiRCLE's lounge. They were waiting for their reserved studio to be vacant so that they can practice.

“Udagawa-san, you shouldn't move that much,” said Sayo apprehensively. “You'll need all that energy for practice.”

“Uuu— but I can't help it!” Ako gave a sharp pout. “I mean, Sayo-san, RinRin... you were there, right? You saw the action yourselves!”

“We didn't,” Sayo curtly replied.

"We were... evacuating the students...” Rinko explained, “I did catch a glimpse... of the red one... thank goodness they came...”

“Pretty strange how monsters just show up in your school, huh...?” muttered Lisa. “Oh, well! You guys are safe, and that's all that matters!”

A creak on the front door made them turn, and the members of Poppin'Party made their way in.

“Oh, you guys!” greeted Lisa, waving her hand at the five.

“Ah!” Kasumi smiled widely at the other band, noticing their presence. “Is Roselia going to have a practice session?”

“Yup~” Lisa nodded. “What about you? What are you doing here?”

“We needed to talk to Marina-san about something,” explained Saaya.

“Marina-san?” Yukina cropped up, batting her eyes towards Popipa.

“Yup,” Tae nodded. “It's something super important.”

“Someone called?”

Marina appeared from the hallway leading to the studio rooms.

“Oh, it's you girls!” she smiled and waved towards Popipa. “Roselia, your reservation is ready. You'll be in studio four.”

“Gotcha!” said Lisa, as Roselia got up from their seats. “Well then, we'll be off!”

The members of Roselia departed off to their reserved studio, leaving Popipa and Marina all by themselves.

“So?” asked Marina, moving to the back of the reservation table. “What can I help you girls with?”

“Um, it's about this...”

Arisa approached Marina and pulled out a brown teddy bear, placing it on top of the table.

“Marina! It's been a while!” greeted Kris.

“Oh— oh...! Kris!” Marina gasped, glancing over towards the five girls. “So... does that mean you are...?”

“Yup, they're the Poppinrangers,” said Kris. 

“You two... know each other?” Rimi asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Yeah...” Marina nodded. “I know the one who created Kris in the first place.”

“Ah, but you shouldn't go and spoil it to them!” Kris warned.

Arisa furrowed her eyebrows. “Spoil...? Wh—what does that mean?” 

“Forget about that!” Marina picked Kris up and moved away from the table. “Come on, follow me.”

A dozen questions still on their minds, the five followed Marina. They traversed through the hallway of doors leading to studios and stages for live performances, before stopping in front of a door at the very back. Marina swung the door open, revealing an unlit descent of stairs leading somewhere underground. She flicked a switch right beside the door, but nothing happened.

“I forgot to replace the lights...” she groaned. “Watch your step, this is gonna be really dark.”

She turned on the flashlight on her phone, before descending through the stairs, the members of Popipa at her heels. This feels... somewhat unnerving. 

After a while, they finally reached the bottom of the stairs. Marina's flashlight revealed a metallic sliding door before them, with five separate buttons on the left side.

“Every one of you need to press that button,” explained Kris. “It will read your Miracle Crystal and allow us to enter.”

Following their instructions, the girls moved in front of their respective buttons and pressed it at the same time. The door slowly slid open, a blinding white light protruding from its gaps as it reveals what's behind it.

“Whoa...!”

Kasumi gasped in awe. It was a sight like no other; a white room with tons of flashing lights and computer monitors, akin to futuristic spaceship cockpits you see in movies. At the center was a pedestal rooted to a few wires protruding from the floor.

“Marina, put me down over there,” instructed Kris. They entered the white room, Marina placing Kris on top of the pedestal. A glass tube immediately encased the doll as Marina stepped back, flashing multiple colors before it... disappeared?

“Heeey! Look at me!”

They all turned immediately... and gasped.

Before them was a floating, orb shaped robot with a yellow-colored shell and a black screen acting as a face. There are two arms protruding from the sides of this robot shell, two flaps above the arms, and a blue light emitting at the bottom.

“Here is my true form!” said Kris, spinning in place happily. 

“Wow, that's so cool!” Kasumi beamed, her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

“Those flaps are like bunny ears,” Tae muttered, suddenly appearing right beside Kris and tapping one of the flaps.

“H—hey, that tickles!” Kris complained, flying away in reflex. “Anyway... now I need all of you to huddle your Risers again, like before!”

Quickly, the five of them piled their hands with the Miracle Risers. Kris flew on top of it and flicked their hand. A faint glow emitted from the Miracle Crystals, then a rustle came from the back of the white room. Where there were nothing on there before, now there are a multitude of weapons hanging on the wall.

“Wow...!” Saaya mouthed in amazement, as they approach those weapons. They're color-coded, corresponding the color of their Miracle Crystals. 

“These are the weapons you can summon at will! Make sure you handle them with care!” said Kris. 

Kasumi glanced towards the weapon before her. It looked... familiar.

“...mine's look just like my Random Star!” she shouted in realization. It's true; the handle was shaped like the fingerboard, and the axe blade was shaped like the guitar body— only the edges are sharper and thinner, and it had a vibrant red glow.

“Well, I modeled them after the things you like,” said Kris, a smug smile appearing from their screen. “That's also why—”

**Beep, beep!**

All of a sudden, the white room flashed red as a siren sound blared loudly. One of the monitors on that room showed a footage of a horde of white monsters assaulting the playground park.

“That's my childhood park!” yelled Kasumi. “It's not far from here!”

“So the surveillance system is working... good,” Kris muttered, before turning towards the girls. “You know what to do, Poppinrangers!”

The Poppinrangers nodded, before storming out from the room and up through the flight of stairs.

“Marina! I need you to do something too,” said Kris, once the Poppinrangers are off. Marina nodded, and the two also departed from the white room.

* * *

The five girls reached Kasumi's childhood park, seeing it in shambles as a bunch of people tried to escape from the white minions. 

“Let's show them what we got!” Kasumi shouted.

“Yeah!” replied the other four.

“ **Miracle Change!** ”

Chanting in unison, they quickly transformed into Poppinrangers and started charging towards the white minions.

“Waaaaaaah...! Help!” cried a little girl, a group of white minions surrounding her. Kasumi immediately came to her aid, sending one of them flying with a powered up kick and defeating two more with a well placed energy punch. One more to deal with, Kasumi evaded a rather sloppy punch from the minion and countered with an uppercut, flinging the minion away.

After the coast is clear, Kasumi helped the little girl stand up. She's still a bit shaken, so Kasumi tried to cheer her up a little.

“It's alright, you're okay now!” she said.

“Mama... Papa...” the little girl sobbed. “They got... captured...”

“Captured? Where?”

“I don't... don't know... the lion monster... he was heading... near our house...”

“Kasumi, watch out!”

Kasumi turned to see two white minions making a beeline towards them. Fortunately...

“ **Rabbit Kick**!” 

Tae came into the scene, landing a flying double kick towards one of the minions, sending it skidding to the ground. 

“Get the little girl away from here!” she said.

Kasumi nodded, then picked up the little girl, letting her piggyback on her shoulders. “Show me where they took them, alright?”

She dashed away from the battle, looking for where the parents of this girl are.

* * *

It took her a while, but she finally found them. 

Kasumi gasped as she saw not only the child's parents, but a ton of other people trapped inside a green barrier. Among them was...

“Hagu...?!”

Hagumi was as anxious as the other ones trapped inside the barrier. She tried knocking the barrier down with her hands, to no avail.

“I need to get them out of there...” Kasumi muttered... then she heard footsteps from behind her.

“Well, well! A Poppinranger!”

Kasumi let the girl down before turning around.

“You!”

Lion Buzz laughed hard, stepping closer towards Kasumi.

“That's right, I'm back!” he barked. “Where are your friends, eh?!”

“They'll be here soon!” Kasumi shouted back. “For now, I can hold you off myself!”

“Bah, don't make me laugh!” Lion Buzz smacked his chest. 

“Then I'll make you cry!”

Kasumi stretched her right arm forward, tapping the Miracle Crystal on her wrist. “Weapon Call: **Starry Axe**!”

A flash of light emitted from her palms, expanding and forming into her very own weapon. She gripped it tightly with both hands.

“Alright then,” said Lion Buzz, smashing both of his claws together, “come at me!”

“Haaaa!”

Her axe raised, she ran straight towards Lion Buzz and swung it. The Buzz blocked the attack, swinging his other claw as retaliation, but Kasumi was swift enough to parry that strike and countered with a slash— a clean hit, knocking Lion Buzz back a few feet.

This feels amazing! Her axe barely weighed like anything despite the sheer size of it. Holding it with one hand, she leapt to the air and pounced Lion Buzz. He blocked it with his claws, but Kasumi was quick to attack again. She overwhelmed Lion Buzz with a multitude of quick strikes whom he could only block. One slash made it through his defenses, hitting him clear in the face. Lion Buzz toppled to the ground, as Kasumi leapt back a few feet.

“You...! How are you this strong?!” Lion Buzz roared, struggling back up. 

“Because I fight to protect!” said Kasumi. “Those who I yearn to protect... they give me the courage to fight. Because of them, I won't lose!”

“Rrrgh! Enough with all of that courage talk! I'll show you real strength! Haaaa!”

Lion Buzz raised his claws as high as he could, charging towards Kasumi.

In retaliation, Kasumi strummed the handle of her axe like a fingerboard, before holding it with both hands.

“ **Sparkling... Wave Slash!** ”

With one definite stroke, Kasumi launched a red gale towards Lion Buzz, piercing through his body and slicing him in half.

“No... this can't be!! AAAAAAH!!”

Lion Buzz exploded, leaving nothing but bits of his remains.

“And that's our star beat!” Kasumi declared, returning the Starry Axe to her Riser.

She turned around to see the green barrier slowly fading away, followed with a chorus of applause and cheering from the hostages.

“Yeah!” Kasumi gave the crowd a peace sign. This doesn't feel so bad.

“Red!”

Realizing that she was called, Kasumi turned to see the rest of Poppinrangers arrive.

“You seriously stole the show all by yourself...?” Arisa clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction. 

“Ehehe— sorry,” replied Kasumi, rubbing her nape. “Why did you call me Red...?”

Arisa sighed. “Because we're in public, idiot. We can't call each other by names.”

“Anyway... it looks like we took care of things here,” said Saaya. “Let's head ho—”

All of a sudden, a green beam suddenly came from the skies and hit the ground where Lion Buzz used to be. Before they knew it, Lion Buzz resurfaced, this time in the size of a giant— about fifty meters tall.

“HAHAHAHA! I HAVE RETURNED AGAIN!” roared Lion Buzz. “Looks like Lord Kaibuzu's little experiment worked. Now... it's time to me to wreak some havoc!”

“How are we supposed to stop THAT?!” Arisa yelled in panic. 

“ _Girls!_ ” 

“Kris?!”

Kris' voice rang in their ears. “ _Looks like it's time to use your **Poppin' Engines**. Call for them— Marina has prepped them all for you, and now they're ready!_”

“A—alright!” Kasumi nodded. Her Riser seems to be telling her what to do again. She's about to call for her Engine, when...

“...miss, miss! I want to help too!”

She felt a tug on her pants, turning to see the little girl she saved before.

Kasumi, even though her face is covered with her helmet, smiled at the girl as she kneeled in front of her.

“You're really strong, aren't you?” she said, carressing the back of the little girl's hair. “You can help us too! See all of those people? Get them to safety, okay?”

The little girl nodded obediently. Kasumi realized she would need some assistance, so...

“Hagu— I mean... the orange haired girl!” she called.

“Eh? Me?” 

Hagumi was rather surprised, but approached them nonetheless. “What's wrong?”

“Help this little girl get those people to safety, okay?” asked Kasumi. “Get as far away from here as possible!”

“O—okay!” Hagumi nodded fiercely. “And, um... I just want to say, you were really cool!”

“This is no time for that!” Arisa reprimanded. Kasumi laughed anyway, and wished them luck. As the two departed, Kasumi raised her Miracle Riser to the sky.

“Alright, I'm ready now!” she said, grinning widely. “Let's go! Miracle Call: **Doki-Doki Jetbuster**!”

Tae did the same, along with the others. “Miracle Call: **Electric Landhopper**!”

“Miracle Call: **Heartbeat Flashzapper**!”

“Miracle Call: **Chocolate Groundcrawler**!”

“Miracle Call: **Love Hoverstriker**!”

Their Miracle Risers shine brightly in unison. Within seconds, a series of colorful battle vehicles came their way; a red jetplane, a blue bipedal tank, a yellow rocket, a pink armored vehicle, and a purple helicopter. They hopped into their respective Poppin' Engines.

“ **Gattai Mode, activate!** ” shouted Kasumi. The five vehicles began merging into one— Jetbuster as the body, Landhopper and Groundcrawler became a pair of legs, while Flashzapper and Hoverstriker became their left and right arm. The five formed a gigantic robot, about the same size as their current enemy.

The five Rangers are then gathered in one large cockpit. They glanced around in awe, before Kris' sound rang again.

“ _ **Hoshi Gattai Happy Party**! This is your basic Poppin' Engine combination. Good luck!_”

“Damn you...! Can't leave me alone just once, can you?!” growled Lion Buzz.

“Of course not!” shouted Kasumi. “We're not gonna stop until you're gone!”

“Come at me, then!”

Lion Buzz ran straight towards the Poppin Engine, his claw raised high.

“We're gonna have to coordinate!” Saaya warned them. “Purple!”

“Got it!” Arisa nodded. The Engine raised its right arm and spun the rotor blades from the helicopter, creating a massive turbulence that pushed Lion Buzz back.

“Pink! We need to activate our jump jets!” said Tae.

“Mhm!” Rimi nodded. “Let's go, Blue!”

At once, the Poppin' Engine leapt forward, boosted by the jets on its legs.

“Everyone, focus your energy on Yellow's part!” Kasumi commanded.

A surge of energy surrounds the Engine's sharp left arm. As the Engine's about to land, it hurled that arm towards Lion Buzz, resulting in a clean hit.

“NOOO! I LOST AGAIN?!!”

Lion Buzz exploded for the second time, as the Poppin' Engine stood tall.

“Alright!” cheered the five. They have done it again.

In the distance, Kasumi spotted Hagumi and the little girl, waving at them from below. Suddenly, a faint light emitted from them, flying straight into Kasumi's Riser and forming another crystal beside her own Miracle Crystal.

“Huh...?”

* * *

The day almost came to a close, as the sun started to set. The five members of Popipa sat beside each other, on a hill overlooking town. They could faintly see the people they just saved, being able to meet their families again.

“Man... something about this feels good, actually,” Arisa mumbled, a faint smile creasing from her lips.

“I guess... this is how it feels to save those we want to protect?” Rimi suggested.

“If this is how it feels... I want to continue doing it,” said Saaya, smiling widely while her gaze absently trailed the town.

“We're not going to,” Tae shook her head. “Not until we stop Lord Kaibuzu.”

The rest of them firmly nodded... except Kasumi, who's still busy staring at the new crystal on her Riser.

“Kasumi?” Arisa called, a little concerned. “Still wondering about the crystal?”

Kasumi nodded.

“Why don't we try asking Kris about it?” Saaya suggested.

“Asking me what?”

“Eh?!”

The sudden appearance of Kris shocked the five of them.

“C—can you not...?” Arisa gritted her teeth, before explaining the situation.

“Ah! Let me see your Riser, Kasumi!” 

Kris immediately flew to Kasumi's hand, seemingly excited. They took a look at the extra crystal, before their screen flashed a smiley face.

“This is what you can call a **Spirit Crystal**!” Kris explained. “Wowzers, I've never seen one before!”

“A... Spirit Crystal?” Kasumi tilted her head.

“Yeah! Basically, this crystal is formed from the courage and faith of others to you. It can increase the strength of a Ranger, as well as giving them new powers!”

Kasumi's face lit up. “So now... thanks to that girl, I have a new power!”

“Exactly! Be proud of yourself, Kasumi,” Kris patted the girl on her shoulder. “Being trusted by others is the true mark of a Ranger!”

Kasumi was reminded of what Arisa said the other day. She's a little too focused in protecting others sometimes, she tends to forget that others that wanted to protect her too. This crystal... will be her reminder of that from now on, because that little girl wanted to protect her too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who wondered why Hagumi didn't realize it was Kasumi from her voice... that's how Super Sentai and Power Rangers usually works. I don't make the rules. ¯\ _(ツ)_/¯


	4. Firsthand Experience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amidst her new life as a Poppinranger, Tae wanted to write a new song... and she gets assistance from a particular someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update: added the last portion because im dumb

Strums of guitar can be heard through the house. Though each individual notes are fine, they didn't exactly convey a concrete melody, and sounded more like a composer throwing random notes on a sheet music.

Tae heaved a sigh. This is a very strange feeling indeed. She stopped playing her guitar for a moment, leaning against her sofa.

“I wonder...”

She turned briefly to see Oddie, the odd-eyed rabbit, who stared back at her.

“Do you know why, Oddie?”

The rabbit remained quiet.

“I guess you wouldn't know, huh...”

* * *

Tae still looked like she's thinking over things the very next day during lunch break. Her emerald orbs gazed absently to the skies, not really focusing on the bento box on her lap.

“Looks like we're making rounds online...” Arisa groaned, showing the other three various viral posts of their presence as Poppinrangers. “Some people even managed to record our last few battles against the Buzzes... don't they have anything better to do?”

“It feels kinda weird...” Rimi giggled. “We're famous, yet at the same time nobody knows our identity.”

“I guess that's how superheroes on TV shows usually feel!” Kasumi suggested, still grinning widely at the posts made about them.

Saaya gave a hearty chuckle. “So... I suppose we're pretty much superheroes now?” 

“I'd... rather not be called that,” Arisa rolled her eyes before spotting Tae, still deep within her thoughts.

“O-Tae, you okay?” she asked. “You've been out of it since lunch began.”

“Ah! Are you thinking about homework?!” asked Kasumi.

“Did you forget to feed your bunnies?!” Saaya asked as well— the concern was deep on everyone's faces.

“No, it's not like that,” Tae shook her head, keeping her face straight. “It's just... I'm feeling kinda stuck.”

“Stuck...?” parroted Rimi, cocking her head slightly.

“Mhm. I feel like I really want to write a song... but at the same time, I don't feel like writing at all.”

“Oh! I know that feeling, O-Tae-chan! I sometimes feel it too when I write songs— like that one time I wrote the Shopping District jingle...”

“Why do you suddenly want to write a song, anyway?” Saaya queried again, raising a brow.

“Hmm...” Tae took a moment to answer, her gaze unfocused again. “I want to capture the feeling we have when we become Poppinrangers into a song. I feel there's... something there, but I can't put my finger on what.”

“I think that'll make a good song!” Kasumi grinned. “We can help you write, O-Tae! We might have different feelings while we fight, and we can tell you all about it! You definitely can find something in there!”

“I guess you're right,” Tae nodded, propping her chin on her finger... before realizing that she hasn't touched her lunch yet. “Oh, shoot— Arisa, wanna trade?” 

“N—not with lettuce, idiot!” yelled Arisa.

* * *

Tae still had part time work after school, watching over the reception desk on one of the music studios in town. There seems to be not a lot of people coming in during her shift, though, so she wasted her time staring at her notebook. There were scribbles all over the page she's currently in, along with a few words that barely made a verse.

“Different feelings, huh...?”

She had written down her friends' suggestions at the tail end of lunchtime, but that still wasn't enough for her to come up with the lyrics.

“I don't even know what's the exact feeling...” she muttered. “What do I really feel when I become Bunny Blue...?”

Excitement, maybe? How can she put that into words... into music?

“...Tae-chan?”

That call jolted her away from her thoughts. She jerked her head up to see a familiar blonde-haired figure.

“Chisato-senpai?” muttered Tae. “Oh, do you have a reservation here?”

A soft smile adorned the senior's lips as she shook her head. “No, actually. I'm here to send this to the manager.”

Chisato handed out a sheet of paper to Tae, whom took and read it. It's a list of equipments.

“We usually rent any extra equipment we need in our rehearsal studio here,” Chisato explained. “That's what we're renting for the next session.”

“I see...” Tae nodded, shifting the sheet of paper aside. “Alright, I'll tell the manager later.”

At this point, Tae expected Chisato to immediately leave... but she didn't, instead eyeing her with a mildly curious look.

“Tae-chan, is there something in your mind?” she asked. “You looked like you were thinking about something.”

“It's nothing important,” replied Tae. She explained to her about her current predicament— of course, leaving out the details about her being part of Poppinrangers.

“Ah, so that's why...” muttered Chisato once she heard the full story. “You seem to be in a rut because of it, huh? I've never seen you like this.”

“Because it's really weird...” Tae ran her fingers through her hair. “Usually, I would have no problem expressing my feelings into a song.”

“Hmm, I never wrote a song myself, but... if it were me, I'd go and try to experience that feeling again,” suggested Chisato. “First-hand experiences always yield the best results, you know?”

Tae pursed her lips, thinking over Chisato's words. “First-hand experiences...” she muttered.

“I'm pretty sure you'll be able to find something in there,” said Chisato, smiling softly again. “I believe that you can finish it, Tae-chan. I'd love to hear the final result when you're done.”

“Chisato-senpai...” 

Tae could feel Chisato's words and the sincerity it bore. It's... encouraging, enlightening her determination to finish this song.

“...thank you. You'll be the first to hear it, after Popipa.”

Chisato lets out a chuckle. “I'll look forward to it.”

After trading their farewells, Chisato turned around and departed. Then... only seconds after she stepped out from the studio, a loud explosion can be heard from outside, followed by screams.

“Chisato-senpai...?!” Tae gritted her teeth in panic, sprinting out from the studio to find...

“Ahahahaha! I am the child of the Sun, **Solar Buzz**!”

The Buzz was shaped in a humanoid woman body, but with rough brown scales as skin and a head in the shape of a sunflower, with red eyes and an unmoving mouth.

“ _Tae, you're in the area?_ ” 

A voice rang from her Miracle Riser— the voice of Kris.

“Yeah,” she replied, “I'll hold the Buzz off!”

“ _Hang tight, then! The rest will soon arrive!_ ”

“AAAAH!”

The loud scream caught her attention. She turned at once, to see Chisato running away and avoiding the ray of lights that Solar Buzz fired. One of the rays, however, crashed a building wall, and the debris it made fell towards Chisato...

“ **Miracle Change!** ”

Everything happened in a flash— Tae ran as fast as she could and lunged towards Chisato, grabbing her body and saving her from the falling debris. She slowly let Chisato out from her grasp, as her blond senior opened her eyes.

“You're...?” 

“Ahahaha! So you showed up, Poppinranger! Time for me to take the bounty and bring you down!” said Solar Buzz, as Tae turned away from Chisato and towards her foe. 

“Not gonna happen,” Tae replied calmly. This is going to be her first-hand experience.

“We'll see about that!” 

Solar Buzz fired more light beams from her petals.

“Weapon Call: **Rabbit's Feet**!”

In retaliation, Tae's boots changed from her regular Ranger ones to a pair of blue steel shoes with suspension-like coils wrapping around her ankles.

Now, her first priority is getting Chisato to safety. Thus, she jumped and deflected one of the light beams with a kick, returning it to Solar Buzz who was blown away by the attack. Taking the chance, she turned around towards her senior, who's still rooted on the spot.

“Take my hand,” she said, lending her right hand. “I'll get you out of here.”

Chisato stared apprehensively towards her... and for some reason, Tae could feel that she's currently reading who's behind the helmet.

Eventually, she did take her hand. Tae pulled her close and wrapped her arm around Chisato— much to her shock —and readied herself to run.

“ **Speed Mode**!”

“Whoaa!”

Tae held Chisato close as she began running at the speed of sound, supported by her Rabbit's Feet. She managed to reach somewhere far from the heat of battle, before stopping and letting Chisato go.

Obviously, Chisato looked like she'd rather not do that again. Her face was pale, and she's out of breath.

However, when Tae was about to return to her battle, she suddenly felt a hand grabbing her wrist. She turned around to see Chisato, grabbing her hand and wearing that serene smile she's all too familiar with.

“Thanks for saving me,” said Chisato. “Good luck in there... I believe in you.”

Tae felt a slight warmth where her Riser is... and realized a new crystal resting beside her Miracle Crystal. That's... a Spirit Crystal, proof of Chisato's faith on her.

Smiling behind her helmet, Tae gave a thumbs up gesture. “Don't worry about it.”

And then she took off, back to where she was before. The Solar Buzz had already recovered from her rebounding attack, looking extremely livid.

“Blue!”

Another familiar voice called, and the remaining four members of Poppinrangers are on the scene inside their suits.

“Sorry for the wait!” said Kasumi, as the five now face their threat. “Now then... our sparkling and heart-pounding feeling is going to stop you today!”

“Gaaah, you're all annoying!” growled Solar Buzz. “Hives, get them!”

The white minions— Hives —gathered around Solar Buzz and charged towards the Rangers.

“Let's try something new!” 

Kasumi tapped the Spirit Crystal on her Riser. It glowed a bright green light, as she raised her arm to the sky.

“Weapon Call: **Brave Lance**!”

A green lance emerged from the light and into Kasumi's palm. “Let's go!” she shouted, as the others called their weapons and began fending off the horde of Hives.

Kasumi pierced through the a group of Hives with her lance, giving way for Tae to dash towards Solar Buzz.

“ **Jump Mode**!”

Empowered by the Rabbit's Feet, Tae propelled herself high into the air, descending with a double flying kick.

“ **Rabbit Kick**!”

Her feet landed straight onto Solar Buzz's face, knocking her down as Tae launched herself back to the sky. While she's midair, Tae tapped the Spirit Crystal from Chisato, causing a furious yellow light covered her right hand.

“Power Call: **Yura-Yura Slicer**!”

With one swift chopping motion, Tae launched a yellow gale wave, cutting through Solar Buzz with ease. The enemy exploded as Tae landed on the ground.

“Good work, Blue!” Kasumi cheered from the distance. It looks like they've cleared the area from the Hives.

However... from the dusts of the prior explosion, the shadow of Solar Buzz slowly made her appearance.

“You thought... I'd go down that easily?! I am the Child of the—”

_Zap._

The dust dispersed. Solar Buzz was standing there, not a single word spoken. 

Behind her... was a figure in a red Ranger suit, their sword lowered.

“What...?”

Within seconds, Solar Buzz exploded for the second— and the last —time. Before the Poppinrangers could do anything... the mysterious Ranger disappeared within the mist of the explosion.

“Who... was that?”

* * *

“You sure you don't know about it, Kris?”

After their battle against Solar Buzz, the members of Popipa are gathered once again in Ryuseido's basement, along with their yellow orb robot.

“I told you, I don't!” Kris insisted, his screen forming a '>:('. “I'm pretty sure I've only made five Miracle Risers for all of you... there's gotta be something about this.”

“Maybe... there's another Crystalizer out there besides you?” Arisa suggested.

“Pretty sure there isn't... my creator only ever made me! I think.”

“You think?!”

“H—hey, who knows, right?! Not my fault that I don't know!”

The five went silent, thinking over what just happened. Another Ranger that they don't know... who could it possibly be? 

“Well, whoever it was... they helped us beat Solar Buzz, so that means they're on our side!” cheered Kasumi, curving a wide grin on her pate.

Arisa pucked her lips in dissatisfaction. “You can't just assume that!”

“She's not wrong, though!” Kris agreed. “Your main priority right now is Lord Kaibuzu and his Buzz Force. If our mystery Ranger here isn't doing anything to jeopardize that, then we'll be fine~”

“If that's what you say...” Arisa sighed, still not thoroughly convinced. 

“Guys?” Tae suddenly spoke, raising her hand as if she's trying to draw attention from a teacher. Everyone turned in response, quizzical looks on their faces.

“...I think I know how my song will go,” she continued.

“G—geez! Couldn't you find a better timing...?” groaned Arisa. “You almost gave me a heart attack...”

Saaya lets out a laugh. “Well, since we're here... let us hear it, O-Tae!” 

Tae gave a broad grin before she picked up her guitar. She cleared her throat... then started strumming. It was an upbeat melody... encouraging, even. Tae hummed along her guitar playing— that's where the singing part supposed to be. 

The rest of them listened in silence until Tae finished, a thin smile curled on her face as she completed the last phrase.

“What do you think?” she asked afterwards. “I haven't gotten around the lyrics yet, but I think I can finish it soon.”

Kasumi clapped loudly. “That was really good, O-Tae!” 

“Maybe we can play that in our next performance!” proposed Rimi. 

“W—wait, we're still performing after all of this?!” Arisa yelped, her brows raised.

“Well... it would be pretty suspicious if we stopped all of a sudden,” replied Saaya. “It won't hurt if we perform once in a while, right?”

Kasumi nodded briskly, her eyes flashing with excitement. “Yeah! We can be Poppinrangers, but we can't forget about being Popipa too!”

“Alright, alright...” Arisa huffed, crossing her arms and admitting defeat. “But don't forget about your school work too, or else you will be neither.”

“Eeeeh?! You don't have to remind me of that!!” Kasumi wailed, grabbing Arisa's shoulders and shaking her.

In response, Arisa yelled back. “G—get off me, you idiot!!”


	5. The Blade of Vengeance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amidst the preparation of a joint performance, the Poppinrangers face a tough enemy— one that tested their resolve.

“A guest appearance?!”

It was by complete happenstance that Popipa and Afterglow met this afternoon, but Tsugumi took this as an opportunity.

“Yeah!” she nodded briskly, pumping her fist up. “The more the merrier, right guys?”

“I'd love it if we perform together again!” Tomoe grinned in approval. “It's more fun if there's more of us, y'know.”

“What's the situation this time?” Saaya asked. It's rather strange that Afterglow asked them to perform out of the blue.

“Well... with all the monsters started appearing, the old ladies from the Shopping District is really missing band performances. So we thought it'll be great if we held one again!” Tsugumi explained.

“Plus, it'll be a great way to give support to the Poppinrangers!” Himari added. “Oh, I hope they would show up to our performance...”

Ran groaned. “They'd only show up when the monsters show up, Himari.”

“Don't be so salty, Ran~” Moca teased. “I know you want them to pop up too, right? You're a really big fan of them, after all~”

“Sh—shut up!”

The members of Popipa glanced at each other, faint smiles upon their faces. It feels reassuring for them to know that their friends are supporting them, even if they don't know who the Poppinrangers truly are.

“Alright!” Kasumi finally replied, grinning widely. “We want to show our support to them, too!”

“Not to mention, we have been looking for somewhere to perform,” Saaya gestured towards Tae, whom smiled back at her. 

“That's great!” chirped Tsugumi. “If you have some time, we can talk over the logistics right now.”

“Sure!” Kasumi replied, unable to contain her excitement. A performance dedicated towards the Poppinrangers... that sounds like a lot of fun!

* * *

The next few days were spent preparing over their next live performance. They'd agreed upon holding it at the Shopping District like last time, and Galaxy will provide the equipment for them. 

Kasumi is a brimming ball of energy through all of this. While it wasn't that long since their latest live performance, their adventures as Poppinrangers really made her miss the sensation of being on stage— even if being a Ranger was admittedly fun in it's own right.

Hence, she was the first one to arrive at the scene— at least, the first one from Popipa, as Afterglow was already busy preparing the stage when she's there.

“Oh, Kasumi-chan! You're early!” Tsugumi called, smiling from ear to ear. She looked busy, running over a few sheets of paper.

“Uh-huh!” Kasumi smiled back, “is there anything I can do to help?”

“Hmm... I think Ran-chan is busy setting up the speakers there,” Tsugumi pointed somewhere near the stage. “Maybe you can help her!”

“Got it!”

With that, Kasumi went off, striding towards where Ran is— busy fiddling with a standing speaker.

“Ran-chan!” she called. “Can I help you with anything?”

Ran looked up, her expression unchanging. “Uh... I need some help picking up an amplifier,” she replied. “We've just unloaded it from the truck, and now we gotta bring it hwre. It's very heavy...”

“I can help you!”

“Alright, let's do it now.” 

Ran got up to her feet and began walking, Kasumi at her heels.

“You guys are so cool, by the way!” complemented Kasumi along the way, “you're all working so hard for this live performance to cheer people up!”

“It's nothing...” denied Ran, averting her gaze from Kasumi.

“It's _not_ nothing, Ran-chan!” Kasumi insisted. “We're going to show our support to everyone around here! And to the Poppinrangers, too!”

Ran lets out a light cackle. “Do you think the Poppinrangers will know about this performance?”

“Of course they will!” Kasumi replied with such an overwhelming certainty that it surprised Ran. “They're here to protect us from the monsters, right? Obviously, they're going to watch over us!”

“I guess so...” Ran huffed. “I'm concerned about them, though.”

Now it's Kasumi's turn to be surprised. “Concerned? Why?” she asked, immediately turning towards Ran.

“Because... I think they're not taking this seriously.” 

Kasumi furrowed her eyebrows. They're not taking this seriously? But they've been fighting off the Buzzes all this time, how are they not taking it seriously?

“What do you mean by that...? Haven't they helped many so many people by fighting the monsters?” 

“I'm not denying that...” uttered Ran, an unreadable expression on her pate. “But I get the impression that they don't truly know the threat they're facing.”

“O—of course they do!” Kasumi argued. “Why do you think they showed up in the first place?”

Still on the fence, Ran refused to make eye contact. “That's not what I meant. Even if we don't know who they're fighting, of course they would know. But they don't know the extent of their enemy's strength.”

“The extent... of their strength?”

“Sure, the first few monsters that appeared are easy to defeat for them... but I have a feeling that the monsters are going to get stronger and eventually outmatch them. I feel like... they're not thinking about that.”

Kasumi fell silent. Their last few encounters were somewhat of a breeze... but what Ran said wasn't wrong— what if the Buzzes got stronger? Their resolve, their will to protect others... will that be enough?

It will be. It _has_ to be!

“Poppinrangers draw their strength from their will to protect others!” Kasumi retaliated defensively, stopping dead on her tracks. “They said so themselves... that will be—”

“Will that _really_ be enough?” Ran interjected coldly, not wanting to lose the argument. “If they're just flaunting around their courage and willpower, then they're not cut out to protect us.”

“Ran-chan...”

For a moment, they could only stare at each other, Kasumi wearing a very stern expression. That's harsh, even coming from Ran... in that case, Kasumi would just have to prove her wrong.

And the time for that comes almost immediately, because the two heard yells and explosions coming from the performance venue.

“Bu— I mean, monsters!” Kasumi shouted. The two ran back towards the venue, their paths split as Ran looked for her bandmates. Kasumi, amidst the ensuing chaos, tapped her Miracle Riser while still running.

“ **Miracle Change!** ”

She arrived on the scene, clad in her Sparkling Red suit. There were no one there, as they had already evacuated, except...

“POPPINRANGER.”

The Buzz this time had a very robotic voice and features. All over its body are steel plates, and the body itself is shaped like a tube with arms and legs protruding out from carved holes. Its head is shaped as a box, with flashing lights as eyes.

“I. AM. **METAL BUZZ**. I. WILL. DESTROY. YOU.”

“You're not going to! Haaaaa!” 

Kasumi sprinted towards Metal Buzz at once and landed a punch... but the Buzz didn't flinch at all.

“Huh?!”

Kasumi tried punching it again, and again, and again, and again... but no matter how many times she tried, the Buzz remained unmoving.

“USELESS. IT'S. USELESS.”

Metal Buzz suddenly grabbed Kasumi in the face, lifting her up and slamming her to the ground.

“Agh!”

The ground rattled along with the impact, Metal Buzz's powerful slam left a Ranger-shaped crater on the streets of the Shopping District. It was far from done, as it lifted Kasumi's limp body up again and fired a jolt of electricity from its eyes.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHH!” Kasumi wailed as electricity surged all over her body. It was pain beyond anything she had ever experienced— like a thousand blades just pierced through her inside and out. She wanted it to stop, she wished for it to stop...

“OW.”

A blast sends Metal Buzz back a few feet, relieving Kasumi from its grasp. She fell to the ground, lying limp and writhing in agony.

“Red!!” came the voice of her fellow Poppinrangers. Kasumi struggled to her feet, coughing. It felt like her lungs were turned to ash.

Arisa helped her get up, as the rest of them gathered as one.

“You guys...” she breathed.

“Seriously, you shouldn't charge on your own like that,” Arisa reprimanded.

“Hehe... sorry. But I'll be fine.”

Kasumi stood upright again. She won't allow this pain to stop her. 

“This is going to be a tough one, guys!” she said, stepping forward to take the lead. “But let's show them our sparkling and heart-pounding feeling!”

The other four nodded, as Kasumi called forth her Starry Axe to her hand.

“Let's go, Poppinrangers!”

With an unified shout, the five began storming towards Metal Buzz.

“COME.”

Kasumi hurled her axe towards Metal Buzz, but it deflected it with ease, flicking the axe away and hurling Kasumi to the ground.

“Weapon Call: **Cornet Cannon**!” 

Rimi's right hand turned into a yellow tubular cannon, firing a stream of photon energy towards Metal Buzz. It retaliated with a surge of electric wave, which overwhelmed the photon blast and caused an explosion, sending her flying to a store wall.

“Pink!” shouted Saaya. “Weapon Call: **Double Beater**!”

Saaya summoned a pair of yellow batons on her hands. Along with Tae, they both attacked with their weapons at the same time— Tae landing a kick square on the Buzz's face, while Saaya slammed her batons to its belly. 

However... the Metal Buzz didn't even flinch. It grabbed Tae's leg in retaliation, before hurling it towards Saaya, flinging both of them away.

“Weapon Call: **Green Grappler**!”

Suddenly, Metal Buzz's neck was coiled with a green whip— Arisa's weapon. From its back, she tried her hardest to pull the Buzz down, but it retaliated by turning its head around and firing a jolt of electricity.

“Ghaaaa—!” Arisa lost her grip, falling down to the ground. 

“IS. THAT. ALL?” Metal Buzz bragged. The Poppinrangers lie helplessly on the ground, struggling to get up.

Kasumi could feel her body being lifted up again as Metal Buzz grabbed her on the head for the third time. 

They're defeated...? Was their resolve, their will to protect... not enough?

...for the second time, Kasumi suddenly fell from Metal Buzz's hand and into the ground, as she heard a metal clank and an explosion. She squinted her eyes to see...

“You're...”

The mysterious red Ranger makes another appearance. Now that Kasumi was close to them, she could make out their figure— her suit was in a deeper shade of red, and instead of yellow stripes and star marks, that suit is decorated with black outlines. The helmet has a black, chevron-shaped visor.

“ANOTHER. ONE? MUST. DEFEAT.” 

Metal Buzz fired another surge of electricity towards the red Ranger, but they managed to avoid it with ease.

“Weapon Call: **Vengeance Saber**.”

It was a girl's voice— deep and collected. A katana formed on her right hand with a shining crimson blade and jet black, rectangular hilt. Kasumi could make out something shining in one of the hilt sides...

“ **Element Fire**.”

The red Ranger pressed that shiny object, and it glew a bright red. Along with it, the blade ignited with fire.

“YOU. IRRITATE. ME.”

Metal Buzz charged towards the red Ranger at once, but the Ranger was too fast for it. In one precise slash, Metal Buzz stopped dead on its tracks, before its body came apart in half and exploded.

Kasumi watched in awe as the foe she and her friends struggled to defeat fell in one swoop. This is the extent of that Ranger's strength... and neither her nor her friends came close to it.

The red Ranger calmly walked away from the aftermath of the explosion, towards where Kasumi lay. They glanced down, pointing their blade towards her.

And then, with a cold and threatening voice, the red Ranger spoke.

“ _If your will to protect is the only strength you have, then stay out of this fight._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> added an extra overall chapter because hoo boy... this warrants two parts


	6. Until Our Same as Always is Restored

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poppinrangers discover the true nature of their strength, to come back stronger than ever!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please listen to Initial during the final portion of the battle, it fits

After their joint live performance with Afterglow was foiled with the appearance of a Buzz, Kasumi and her friends are forced to retreat home. 

It was almost approaching nighttime the moment Kasumi arrived home. Her muscles still felt sore after thrown around like a ragdoll... not to mention her lungs felt like there're ash clogging inside.

Either way, she rang her house's doorbell, still thinking over what just happened. A moment after, and the door swung open.

“B—big sis!”

Asuka was there to welcome her home. From the look upon her face, it was obvious that Kasumi's little sister was very concerned. Furthermore, she did something not Asuka-like— pulling her into a tight embrace.

“I'm so glad you're safe...”

She pulled back after a moment, before squinting her eyes.

“Your left eye... it's bruised,” Asuka muttered. Kasumi reflectively touched her eyebag... it does feel swollen.

“I hit a wall,” Kasumi noted, letting out a dry laugh, as the two went into their house.

That night, Kasumi wasn't able to sleep at all. She was restless, her eyes wide open as she lay motionless on her bed. She couldn't stop thinking about the recent events— Ran's words, then their defeat, then the red Ranger.

The red Ranger. Could it be...?

* * *

“What?!”

It was the next day at Ryuseido, and the rest of Popipa couldn't believe what they've just heard. But Kasumi sounded as certain as she could be. 

“Kasumi, you've got to be joking, right?!” Arisa pressured her.

“I wish I am...” Kasumi frowned, her gaze dropping to the floor. “But I'm sure of it. The red Ranger... is Ran-chan.”

It made too much sense— the way she acted when they talked, then what she said after she took down the Metal Buzz... it was still vivid in her memory.

_If your will to protect is the only strength you have, then stay out of this fight._

“Ran-chan... I can't believe it...” Rimi muttered lowly. 

“What are we going to do about it?” asked Saaya, gripping her arm tightly. “I mean, she's not against us, but... she told us to stay away.”

“It's because she deemed our strength wasn't good enough,” Tae mumbled. “And she's really strong...”

The five of them fell to a deafening silence. That fight was their first major defeat... had it not for Ran's interference, they would've been in a huge trouble.

Saaya broke the silence, still looking perturbed. “Maybe... it's because we're not giving it our all?” 

“B—but we are, haven't we?” Rimi blinked, confused by the sudden statement. 

“No,” Tae shook her head. “Saaya's right, and so does Ran. We only relied on the strength from our will to protect and nothing else.”

“Nothing else...?” mumbled Arisa under her breath. “Then... what other strength we can use?”

“I'm sorry to interrupt you girls, but you seem to be in quite a rut.”

Kris swooped in from the basement's couch, hovering amidst them.

“Now, listen to me,” they said, and everyone else began paying their attention. “The Miracle Crystal draws power from its bearer. While your will to protect others are strong... it's insufficient to fulfill the Crystal's true potential.”

“So, what can we do...?” asked Rimi.

“You mustn't _just_ rely on others to grant you your strength... you must also call forth your own,” Kris explained. “Remember what I told you before the first time you transformed? Call upon your courage. _Your courage_.”

The Poppinrangers continued to listen, slowly understanding each words Kris had said, and taking in each meaning it bore.

“You can't go _"my friends are my power"_ or _"my strength comes from protecting others"_ all the time,” Kris continued. “Sometimes, it is okay to completely rely on your own strength— and even combine it with that strength you gain from others... to reach greater heights.”

All five of them stared at each other, seemingly coming into their own conclusions.

Kasumi finally understood what they were lacking... all this time, she had only relied the strength supplied by others, all in the name of protecting them. But now... 

“I understand now... I get it!” she began smiling again, as the others nodded in agreement. “We can't rely on strength on others' all the time... we also need to believe in our own!”

“That's it, you figured it out!” Kris gave a smiley face on their face screen. “Knowing where your strengths are is the signs of a true Ranger! Oh, and speaking of...”

**Beep, beep!**

Kris' sirens went off, as they displayed something on their screen— a horde of Hives attacking.

“Wowzers, that's perfectly timed! Anyway, we have a Buzz emergency!”

“That's... Haneoka!” Arisa gasped. “How can we get there fast?!”

“Uhhh... you guys have aircrafts and tanks, you know?”

“Oh. Right.”

“Well, then... let's show the world Poppinrangers' newfound strength!” said Kasumi, and the others cheered along.

This time, it'll be different.

* * *

At Haneoka...

“Hahahahaha! Destroy everything you see!”

The Buzz this time was akin to Medusa— snake hair, female body, and scaly skin. She's flanked by a group of Hives, chasing away the Haneoka students as they scrambled in panic.

Meanwhile, somewhere up on the rooftops, a certain black-haired student watched the events unfold before her. Her hands are crumpled into fists, her red eyes shot towards the Buzz threatening her friends.

Mustering all the courage she had, Mitake Ran took a deep breath, before raising her hand to the air— showing the black Riser on her wrist.

“ **Revenge Change!** ”

The Crystal on her Riser glew a bright red, engulfing her body with a mixture of black and crimson light. Eventually, she was in her Ranger suit.

“Weapon Call: **Vengeance Saber**!”

Ran leapt to the grounds, her katana tightly held in her hand. 

“Oh, look... a Poppinranger? But you seem different,” said the Buzz in a mocking tone.

“I'll be more than enough!” Ran pointed her sword towards the Buzz, “ **Crimson Revenger**... I'll defeat you, and regain my "same as always"!”

“Not if I, **Slither Buzz** , defeat you first!”

The horde of Hives redirected their attention and began storming towards Ran, whom clicked one of the Crystals on her sword hilt.

“ **Element Fire!** ”

Her blade ignited at once, Ran only needed one slash to eliminate all of the Hives. She then dashed towards Slither Buzz, blade still raised and on fire.

As a response, Slither Buzz sent her snake hairs flying towards Ran, each of them firing rapid pellets of yellow energy from their eyes. Ran slid under one of the blast barrages, before chopping off two of the snake hairs. However...

“Hah! Fool!”

The snake hair she sliced off suddenly grew into two, branching snake hairs. Their combined eye blasts managed to hit Ran square on the chest.

“Agh!”

She was flung back a few feet, though managed to get up in no time. 

“Looks like I'll have to try something else...” she muttered through gritted teeth. “ **Element Wind!** ”

The flames on her blade died, in its place a hurricane-like wind surrounding the red metal. Ran swished her sword, sending a razor-sharp tornado straight towards Slither Buzz.

However, Slither Buzz stretched her snake hairs in front of her to form a shield. The tornado sliced off all the snake hairs... but they doubled at once, firing one giant laser beam towards Ran.

“GHAAAA!” 

Taking the full brunt of the attack, Ran collapsed to the ground. She tried to push herself back up with her sword, but Slither Buzz continued her onslaught of beams... and she eventually fell.

How...? But her strength... is this not enough too?

Suddenly, she heard an energy blast, and the wails of pain from Slither Buzz.

“Ran-chan!”

Ran cocked her head and saw Kasumi, clad in her Sparking Red suit. She helped her sit down.

“Kasumi... so it's really you...” she croaked. “I've told you, stay away from this...!”

“No!” Kasumi briskly shook her head. “I'm not going to... we're not going to!”

The rest of Poppinrangers emerge before them. 

“Red! Take care of her!” shouted Tae, as the four called their weapons forth and charged towards Slither Buzz.

“I'm... I'm not strong too...” Ran muttered, her eyes gazing at her dusted saber. “I've told you that your will to protect wasn't enough, but my own strength wasn't enough either.”

“Mhm,” Kasumi nodded. “That's why... we need to use both at the same time!”

“At the same time...?”

“Yeah! You've shown me that strength from others by itself isn't enough... but combining that with your own personal strength should be!”

Ran clenched her fists. “How...? You make it look so easy.” 

“It is!” Kasumi smiled behind her helmet. “Just look at the people encouraging you! Listen to their voices, the faith they put on you!”

Ran slowly turned her head around, towards the Haneoka students still witnessing the battle. They're all... cheering for them?

_“Go beat 'em, Rangers!”_

_“We'll support you to the end!”_

_“Poppinrangers! I believe in you!”_

_“Work hard and beat the monster!”_

“See?” Kasumi tilted her head slightly. As the voices of support rang through the air... the members of Poppinrangers felt a warmth on their Miracle Risers. They all received a new Spirit Crystal, proof of Haneoka's faith towards them.

Ran could also feel the same warmth on her black Riser... and saw a new Crystal besides her main one.

“This is...?”

“Proof that they believe in you, Ran-chan,” Kasumi uttered, before shaking her head. “No— they believe in you, Crimson.”

Despite their faces covered in helmets, they knew that they're smiling at each other. 

“Hey, hey! If you're done with the reconciling, help us here!”

The annoyed voice of Arisa rang, as the four other Poppinrangers gathered together for one final attack.

Ran slowly got up to her feet, raising her saber to create another cyclone around the blade. “She's going to try to block this attack. You guys need to attack her before she recovered her snakes!”

“On your cue, Crimson,” said Tae, as the Poppinrangers gathered and outstretched their hand, charging their finisher.

“What are you trying this time?!” Slither Buzz yelled. “It's not going to work!”

“We'll see about that!” Ran shouted, hurling her razor tornado towards Slither Buzz. It sliced off the snake hairs again.

“Now!”

“ **Poppin' Blaster!** ”

The Poppinrangers collectively fired a massive blast, evaporating Slither Buzz at once.

“NOOO! THIS CAN'T BE!!”

As the blast thinned out, the Slither Buzz was no more. 

But before an uproar of cheers could be heard... a green beam of light was shot from the sky to Slither Buzz's remains, reviving her and amplifying her in size!

“Oooh, thank you, Lord Kaibuzu! I won't waste this chance!”

“We're not done...” Ran muttered.

“Then we'll keep on fighting!” Kasumi raised her fist up to the sky. “Everyone, **Miracle Call!** ”

The other Poppinrangers followed. “ **Miracle Call!** ”

Instead of their Miracle Crystal, their Haneoka Spirit Crystal lit brightly.

“I'll fight too! **Revenge Call: Crimson Knight!** ”

A set of red colored versions of their Poppin' Engines appeared, merging into one giant red robot. Along with it, another crimson gaint robot emerged in the shape of a bulky samurai.

The Rangers hopped into their robots, standing between Haneoka and the gigantic Buzz. 

“ _ **Hoshi Gattai Scarlet Rainbow**! Best matching Engine!_” said Kris through their communicator.

“Let's show them our sparkling, heart-pounding feeling!” Kasumi shouted.

The two robots began charging towards Slither Buzz, who launched a massive yellow beam towards Scarlet Rainbow.

“I won't let you do that!” 

Crimson Knight pulled out its sword from its back, deflecting the laser blast back at Slither Buzz.

“Let's finish her off with a fiery kick!” 

Scarlet Rainbow leapt high up to the sky, its legs in flames. Then, the giant robot makes its descent with a flying side kick straight into Slither Buzz's face, exploding the foe into bits with the contact.

“LORD KAIBUZUUU! I'M SORRY!!”

Scarlet Rainbow landed safely on the ground, as their foe is defeated once and for all.

* * *

“So... what are you going to do now, Ran-chan?”

The six Rangers are now on their way home after a task well done.

“Of course, I'll continue fighting,” Ran said, a tiny smile on her face. “I'm not going to stop until our "same as always" is restored.”

“That's great...!” Rimi chirped.

“But... if you can, please keep this a secret from the rest of Afterglow. I won't be able to stand them worrying too much about me...”

“That's the sign they care about you, Ran,” Saaya replied, an ear-to-ear smile etched on their faces.

“Sometimes... it's too excessive.”

“Well... under one condition!” said Kasumi, much to the confusion of the rest.

“Wh—what?”

Kasumi grinned widely, before uttering her request. “Let's have a proper live performance!”

Ran's eyes widened for a moment, before she returned the smile. “Yeah. Let's.”


	7. The Honorary Member's Bushido Spirit!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As an invading Buzz challenges the strongest swordsman on Earth to a duel, he meets a very unlikely foe.

“Ran-chan! Over heeeere!”

Kasumi waved at the incoming black-haired girl, as the members of Popipa waited right outside CiRCLE. They expected Ran to arrive a few days after their stint against Slither Buzz, but what they didn't expect was...

“Oh, it's Poppin'Party!”

“Eve-chan?”

The half-Finnish girl beamed happily as she strode beside Ran, greeting the girls one by one.

“I met her on the way here,” said Ran, cackling softly. 

“As a matter of fact, I was asking Ran-san about flowers!” Eve added. “A Japanese-styled arrangement... I can't wait to try making one!”

“If you ever need any help, just hit me up.”

“Understood!” Eve bowed. “Well, then! I shall depart! See you soon!”

Before they knew it, the white-haired girl walked away from them.

“She looks really excited,” Rimi commented, a tiny smile curled upon her lips.

“Anyway...” Ran cleared her throat, “you guys want to show me something?”

“Well, it's more like "show you to someone",” Arisa corrected. “Let's get in.”

The six made their way inside CiRCLE, immediately being greeted with...

“There you are!” 

Kris swooped in from out of nowhere, causing them to jump— Ran getting affected the worst, because she's never seen this ball of flying steel before.

“What... is that...?”

“Oh, you must be Ran! Crimson Revenger, yes?” Kris asked animatedly. “I'm Kris! I'm the one who granted the Poppinrangers their powers!”

“Kris is a Crystalizer,” Saaya explained, “a robot that gives us the Risers we use to transform.”

Ran stared at Kris with mild interest. “I see...”

“Anyway, let's go somewhere a little more private!” said Kris. “Can't let others know about me!”

Thus, they made their way to the white control room, located at the basement. Once there, Kris opened the sliding metal door to let them in.

“Wow...”

Ran couldn't help herself but gasp in amazement upon seeing the room. The place hasn't changed all that much ever since Popipa visited it the first time— screens on the white walls showing surveillance systems and all other kinds of data, computers that look millitary-grade, and a small pedestal at the very center of the room.

“Impressed?” Kris asked smugly, “my creator made this system to monitor Buzz sightings. It's how I alert the Poppinrangers to move out!”

“So that's why you guys always appear early...” Ran muttered, nodding understandingly. 

“Nevermind that, I have some questions to ask about you. If... you don't mind.”

The five members of Poppinrangers gathered around, quietly watching as Kris began their inspection.

“Now... Ran, if I may ask... where did you get your Riser?” Kris began. “Did you obtain it from a Crystalizer, like me?”

“No...” Ran shook her head, gazing at the black Riser on her right wrist. “This dates back a month ago...”

“Mind explaining?”

Ran took a deep breath. This is going to be a long one...

“It all started one night last month... I was in my room, doing my homework. It was late into the night, when the lights in my room suddenly turned off.

I started looking around in the dark, wondering what just happened. When I was about to turn the lights back on... I saw it.”

Ran briefly paused, before shaking her head.

“No... I saw _her_.

I couldn't make out her face clearly, but I know for certain that she's wearing a maid costume. You know, the white and black one you see in maid cafes? Anyway, she called me by my name and told me about a... calamity.”

“Calamity...?” muttered Saaya.

“Yeah,” Ran gave a grim look. “She told me that the world is under a huge threat... and I was chosen to defend it. She then gave me this bracelet— Riser, was it? —and explained that this contains powers I can use to fight. That's the gist of it...”

“Wowzers,” Kris scratched their... exterior, huffing. “Has this... maid lady showed up after your initial meeting?”

“No... I've never seen her again since.”

“Hmm... interesting. Looks like someone else pose the secrets of the Miracle Crystals...”

“What should we do about it?” Arisa asked anxiously. “This maid woman... she sounds like she's trying to help, but I feel like there's something fishy about her...”

“Well... until we find some evidence about her motives, there's nothing we can do about it,” said Saaya, pursing her lips. 

“Yup,” Kris agreed. “At least we know the red— er, crimson Ranger is now on our side. That's all that matters.”

“That being said, you're gonna fight along with us, right?” asked Tae.

“Yeah,” Ran replied. “Of course... I can't be with you guys all the time, but I'll do what I can to help every once in a while.”

“That's great!” Kasumi cheered. “Crimson Revenger is now Poppinrangers' honorary sixth member!”

Ran scratched her cheeks, laughing awkwardly. “Honorary member... I like the sound of that.”

**Beep, beep!**

As if right on cue again, the room flashed red. The screens on the walls show one thing— a Buzz in the shape of a feudal samurai armor.

“I'm the greatest swordsman in the universe!” said the Buzz in a growly voice. “I challenge the strongest swordsman on Earth to a duel! If I win, I'll to destroy this planet!”

“That doesn't sound good,” Ran muttered.

“W—wait, that's...”

Arisa noticed something else on the screen— or rather, someone else. As they slowly make out the figure on screen... a feeling of horror suddenly surged within them.

“ _Eve?!_ ”

* * *

“So you're the strongest swordsman in the planet, young girl?!”

The Buzz pointed his long katana towards Eve, who stood her ground valiantly.

“I'm not the strongest... but I will not let you destroy the world!” she shouted.

“Hah! At least you have some courage!” the Buzz barked. “In that case... I, **Tsurugi Buzz** , challenge you to a duel! Draw your blade, young girl!”

“I will accept!” 

Eve pulled out her wooden practice sword from her bag, getting into her stance.

“Hah!” Tsurugi Buzz scoffed. “That's your blade?! It looks so feeble!”

“It doesn't matter if it's feeble or not!” Eve declared bravely. “What matters is... the spirit of Bushido I carry when wielding this blade!”

“Then let me see that spirit!” the Buzz replied, raising his blade. “Come!”

Eve charged without any second thoughts, her wooden blade raised in the air. She swooped in with a strike, catching Tsurugi Buzz off guard. The Buzz was overwhelmed by a series of swings, forcing himself to be on the defensive.

After a series of attacks, Eve stepped back and caught her breath, her blue eyes focused upon her foe.

“Not bad, not bad!”

Strangely, even though he's on the back foot for the most part, Tsurugi Buzz sounded satisfied. 

“I can see that spirit of yours, little girl. What's your name?”

_Name?_

“Wakamiya Eve! And I'll be the one stopping you!” she replied with zero shortage of courage.

“Haha! Well then, Wakamiya Eve! I respect your Bushido spirit... but that won't be enough to best me,” Tsurugi Buzz declared, reentering his sword stance.

“We shall see about that! Haaaah!”

Eve charged for a sword swing... but with just a single flick, Tsurugi Buzz's blade cleaved straight through Eve's wooden blade, slicing it in half and sending it flying off her hands.

“Ah!”

The girl stumbled to the ground, as Tsurugi Buzz prepared for his finishing blow.

“Stop!”

Tsurugi Buzz stopped mid swing, as the two of them turned to see the source of the voice.

“You... a Poppinranger?!”

Donning her Crimson Revenger suit, Ran stood before the Buzz. 

“I... am the strongest swordsman on Earth!” she declared. “Let her go, and you may challenge me to a duel!”

The other Poppinrangers watched from afar, as Tsurugi Buzz moved away from Eve and faced Ran.

“Hm. Very well... come at me!” he said, readying his katana again.

“Weapon Call: **Vengeance Saber**!”

Ran called upon her own sword— the red-bladed katana with Spirit Crystals adorning its hilt.

Getting back to her feet, Eve observed as the two swordsmen circled around each other, both waiting for an opening.

“The strongest swordsman on Earth...” she muttered. 

The two combatants dashed forward at the same moment, producing a loud clang as their blades clash. Within seconds, they're already trading sword blows after sword blows, their arms moving as fast as the eyes could see.

“You think she'll be alright...?” Arisa muttered as they watched the fight ensue.

“She will be!” Kasumi vigorously nodded. 

“For now, let's focus on keeping Eve-chan safe,” said Rimi. 

Ran and Tsurugi Buzz both knocked each other back a few feet after one strong sword clash.

“Not bad!” Tsurugi Buzz shouted, sounding extremely satisfied. “I haven't worked myself up this hard before... looks like I'll have to use 600% of my powers!”

“600%...?!”

All of a sudden, Tsurugi Buzz protruded four more arms, each carrying a katana in its hands. He pulled out one more katana... forcing Ran to face six swords at once.

“S—six swords?!” Arisa gasped.

Ran gritted her teeth. “ **Element Wind!** ” shouted her, and a cyclone emerged on her sword's blade. “See if you can handle this!”

Dashing forward, Ran launched waves of razor-sharp gale winds towards Tsurugi Buzz, who's forced to stay on the defense by parrying the strikes.

“She's so fast...” mumbled Eve, watching in awe as Ran aggresively landed blow after blow for Tsurugi Buzz to block. The razor winds on her blade sped her sword strokes up, allowing herself to keep up with the six swords.

Eventually, though... Tsurugi Buzz slowly regained his momentum, and began pushing the wind back against Ran. While she could keep up with the six swords, they were still too much for one sword to handle. After one sloppy block, Tsurugi Buzz managed to land a barrage of slashes at Ran, knocking her to the air.

“Crimson!” yelled the Poppinrangers, while Ran struggled back to her feet.

“Don't interfere!” shouted Tsurugi Buzz, sending a bolt of lightning from his blade towards the five. They barely managed to dodge the explosion.

“You... how dare you...!” Ran growled, getting back up to her feet and readying herself to continue fighting.

“She's not going to win with just one sword...” Eve muttered to herself, before noticing her broken training sword on the ground. If she could...

Eve sprinted as fast as she could towards the hilt of the sword.“Crimson-san!” she called. Ran turned... and Eve tossed the sword on her hand.

“Hah! What will that do?!” Tsurugi Buzz laughed. “Not only is that blade feeble, it's broken!”

“You idiot, didn't you hear what that girl just said?” Ran spoke sternly. “The blade doesn't matter. What matters is... the spirit of Bushido I carry with this blade!”

“What?! Stop with that nonsense!”

“It's not nonsense! The spirit of Bushido is... the strength to help those around you. That's the greatest strength one can ever draw from themselves!”

A bright white light suddenly enveloped the broken sword, as Ran raised it high up in the air.

“Go! With the spirit of Bushido!” Eve cheered, and a white crystal emerged on Ran's Riser.

“A Spirit Crystal...!” Kasumi gasped in awe.

“Weapon Call: **True Warrior's Blade**!”

The light dispersed, as the broken sword transmorphed into a sleek white katana. 

“Hmph, now this ought to be more fun!” Tsurugi Buzz readies himself, spreading his six arms wide.

Meanwhile, Ran spun the True Warrior's Blade around, before pointing it towards her foe. “Now... I'm going to defeat you, and reclaim our "same as always"!”

Tsurugi Buzz charged first, swiping all six swords at the same time towards Ran. However, his opponent was too fast— Ran slashed the Buzz's chest before the blades could even touch her. She sent the Buzz reeling back, not expecting the hit he received.

“How...?!” Tsurugi Buzz shook his head vigorously, trying to refocus himself. Ran didn't waste any time, however— she dashed towards the Buzz for another slash, which he couldn't deflect. Ran quickly followed one slash with another, and another, and another, using both of her swords to completely overwhelm Tsurugi Buzz. 

“This clinches it,” uttered Ran, before dealing one last decisive blow with both of her swords, creating an explosion that flung the Buzz to the air.

“She won!” cheered the other Rangers.

Soon after, Ran approached Tsurugi Buzz, who's kneeling on the floor.

“Heh... looks like I still got a lot to learn, eh?” he joked. “I'd ask you to end me, but... I kinda want to fight against you again.”

“Aren't you supposed to be working under Lord Kaibuzu?” Ran asked, bowing her head.

“That's just at face value. I'm just here to find good fights... fights with honor. And you've certainly shown me some.”

Tsurugi Buzz looked up, their faces meet with each other.

“So how 'bout it? Let me get stronger, then I'll fight you proper,” said the Buzz so genuinely that Ran was a little taken aback at first.

“...I'll be waiting, then,” she finally replied.

“Good! I'll make sure that I—”

But Ran never knew what Tsurugi Buzz will make sure of, because at the next moment, his body was pierced with a gigantic glowing arrow.

Tsurugi Buzz exploded at once, prompting Ran to step back— and her fellow Rangers to follow.

Once the smoke clears, they could make out a figure standing before them... 

“Another... Ranger...?”

It was unmistakable. That helmet shape, the suit... that looked like a Ranger suit. This mysterious Ranger was different from them, though— the suit color is predominantly black, with a teal-tinted, chevron-shaped visor.

Whoever this Ranger is, they just shot Tsurugi Buzz with their bowgun... before disappearing into the mists.

“What's the deal with that...?! Another mystery Ranger?!” yelled Arisa.

“That one looks very different from us, though,” Tae deducted, “that one's all black.”

“Are they on our side, though...?” Rimi mumbled. Nobody knew the answer, as they fell into a deafening silence.

“Crimson-san!”

That silence was broken by Eve, as she ran towards Ran and kneeled.

“H—hey...!” 

Flustered, Ran tried to get her back up, but Eve refused.

“Please... please teach me your ways, Crimson-san!” she begged, a fierce determination in her eyes. “I want to be your disciple! Please, be my master!”

Ran had absolutely no clue on what to say. Part of her just wanted to admit that she's the one behind the suit... but that would be a bad idea.

“...no, I refuse,” she replied after a while.

“Eeeeh?! Why?!” Eve protested, sounding very disappointed.

“Because you've taught me more than what I'll ever teach you.”

Ran's True Warrior's Blade glowed white again, before turning back into Eve's wooden training sword— only this time, it's all fixed and has a white handle. 

“Here,” she handed the sword back to Eve. “Hold on to that Bushido spirit, alright?”

Eve was still for a moment, before she stood up and took the blade with dignity.

“Y—yes!” she nodded and smiled widely. “I will, Crimson-san! I promise!”


	8. Onward to Smiles! Go, Happyrangers!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Facing an enigmatic crisis, Poppinrangers gets assistance from Hello, Happy World in the most unexpected way possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a particularly fun chapter to write, hope you enjoy it!

A thick fog enveloped a portion of the city, obscuring the view for those in the thick of it. Not far from there, Chocolate Pink and Beating Yellow evacuated most of the people to safety. 

Something like a fog shouldn't probably need the assistance of the Poppinrangers... except for the fact that this fog seemed sentient. It's aware on what place to strike, and always disappears after a certain amount of time passed.

“Red? What's your situation?” called Saaya from her communicator.

“I got ten people out so far, but I can't find the source of this...” Kasumi replied on the other end. She's currently inside the fog, getting as many people out from it. “This fog's really dangerous to breathe in... everyone I rescued looked really sick.”

“You're fine though, right?”

“Yeah! Thanks to the respirator thing!” 

Kasumi helped a girl in Hanasakigawa's uniform to stand up, when the fog around them dissipated.

“It's gone again...”

* * *

A couple of days later, the members of Popipa gathered once again for lunchtime in Hanasakigawa. The mood surrounding them was different, however— fewer students passed by, some with direly grim looks upon their faces. Barely any single one of them bore a smile on their faces.

“This is really creeping me out...” Arisa shuddered, glancing at one particularly somber-looking student. “If we don't stop that fog, everyone in the city will turn into them.”

“But we've tried everything we can...” muttered Saaya, her blue eyes downcast. “Our efforts these past few days has been fruitless.”

“Don't say it like that, Saaya!” argued Kasumi. “At least we got a lot of people to safety. Some of them managed to get out before the fog affected them!”

“Yeah... but we still need to figure out how to stop that fog for good,” said Rimi.

“Oh! Popipa!”

Kokoro's smile was as radiant as the sun between all of the somber faces. Trailing along with her was Hagumi and Misaki, both seemingly unaffected by the fog too— even though Misaki has her default straight expression.

“Kokoron!” greeted Kasumi, a wide smile reflected on her face. Really, amidst all of the sad faces, someone like Kokoro is who they really need to bring the mood up.

“Ah! You guys are smiling!” Kokoro chirped. “That's great! Everyone I see so far didn't smile at all. I wonder where their smiles go...”

“No kidding,” uttered Misaki, her eyes gazing to a set of sad faces. “It's normal for one or two students to have sad faces, but a majority of them? Bit freaky.”

“About that... we think it's because of the fog,” implored Saaya.

Hagumi's eyes lit up in an instant. “Oh! Is it the creepy fog that's been on town?” 

Kokoro also looked intrigued, turning towards Hagumi. “Creepy fog? What kind of fog is that?”

“Haven't you heard the news...?” Misaki rolled her eyes. “There's a fog spreading around town, showing up wherever it wants and then disappearing, only to pop up somewhere else some time later.”

Her eyes then turned towards the members of Popipa. “You said all of the sad faces is because of the fog?” she asked.

Kasumi gave a short nod. “Yeah! We're a hundred percent sure that whoever inhales the fog becomes unable to smile.” 

“Unable to smile...?” Kokoro pursed her lips, seemingly deep in thoughts. “If there are people who can't smile, how can we make the whole world smile?”

Hagumi's eyes widened. “Oh, no! We can't do that with the fog around!”

“Well... we just have to get rid of the fog!” Kokoro deduced, making it sound easier than how it actually is.

Oh, not this again... Misaki lets out a long sigh. “Not to be a sceptic, but... how?”

Kokoro went silent for a moment before replying, “we'll talk about that later!”

Misaki rolled her eyes again. “Of course we will.”

“You guys can help too! You still have your smiles!” offered Kokoro to the Popipa members.

Before anyone else had a say, Kasumi raised her hand. “We want to help!” she chirped with a broad smile.

“Eh?! W—wait, we haven't agreed to this!” Arisa protested.

“I agree!” Tae raised her hand too.

“That's not what I mean—!”

* * *

After school, the members of Popipa found themselves gathered inside Tsurumaki's residence, along with the five Harohapi members. 

“To come at such a short notice... thankfully, I always have time to spare for my kittens,” said Kaoru, doing her usual Kaoru thing.

“S—so... we're going to stop that fog?” Kanon asked nervously. She looked a little uncertain.

“Hm, hm!” Kokoro nodded. She's currently standing in front of the other nine, pointing at a whiteboard. “So, does anyone have an idea on how to stop the fog?”

“Y—you don't even know how?!” Arisa and Misaki yelled at almost the same time.

“Well, the Poppinrangers has tried to stop it, but even they weren't able to,” Saaya muttered. 

“Eeeh? But I thought the Poppinrangers could do anything!” protested Hagumi, her brows knitted. 

“"Anything" is a stretch...” Arisa huffed.

“If they can't do it, then we gotta help them, right?” said Kasumi. “We can't always depend on them— we also need to help them out too!”

There were murmurs and nods of agreement throughout the room. The other members of Popipa smiled appreciatively towards Kasumi.

“Kasumi's right!” Kokoro agreed. “And besides, nothing is impossible! We just have to help the Rangers out!”

“Okay, but how?” Misaki repeated the question. “How are we supposed to get rid of the fog?”

Kanon raised her hand to speak. “Um... this may sound weird, but... how about we use a vacuum?” 

“A vacuum?” rang the entire room, as they collectively stare at the blue haired— which looked extremely flustered by the sudden attention.

“Eh— fuee... forget about it...!”

“Actually, that might work,” uttered Saaya, resting her chin on her fingers. “The fog must've been caused by something... or someone. Either way, it's not a natural fog, so we might be able to contain it.”

“That's it! That might _really_ work!” beamed Kasumi.

“Containing the evil trying to threaten my kittens... what a fleeting idea,” Kaoru commented.

“Well, then! Let's do that!” chirped Kokoro.

“Wait, wait wait—” Misaki interrupted her for the third time, “it may work, but where are we going to get a vacuum that big? And how are we supposed to approach the fog without inhaling it?”

Before anyone could respond Misaki's questions, the people in suits suddenly entered the room. One of them whispered something to Misaki's ear...

“Eeeh?!”

The others threw quizzical glances at Misaki, as she stood up and followed the suit people outside, looking positively shocked.

About fifteen to twenty minutes later... Misaki came back— or rather, Michelle.

“Whoa! Michelle, you came!” Hagumi beamed.

“I do~ I'm here to show you all something,” said Michelle. “Come follow me, please.”

All of them stood up and moved out from the room, to be greeted with...

“Oh!”

Four highly advanced exoskeleton body armor stood before them, color-coded with a shiny metallic paint. They have a translucent blue visor on their helmet, much like a space trooper helmet in sci-fi movies.

“This is our Happyrangers suits~ we can use it to help the Poppinrangers,” Misaki explained.

“Whoaaa! They look like Poppinranger suits!” Kasumi gasped in awe, as the members of Harohapi tried their suits on.

“Wow! I feel like an actual Ranger!” Hagumi jumped up and down, excitement ringing from her voice.

“It's a bit hard to move in...” Kanon muttered.

“How did you prepare all of this, Misaki?” asked Rimi curiously.

Misaki shook her head. “Not me, it's the suit people. They had these suits laying around in storage for a while, and modified them with vacuums as soon as they heard Kanon-san and Saaya talking about it. They say it's pretty easy to modify...”

“Why would they have something as advanced as that lying in storage...?!” muttered Arisa in disbelief.

“Anyway!” Misaki alerted the other four, who are still fumbling in their suits. “This thing has a vacuum on it, so we can suck as much of the fog as possible. It also has reserve respirators, so we can breathe inside the fog.”

“Fog sighted!” said one of the suit people all of a sudden. “It's on the Shopping District!”

“Well, then, let's save our little kittens,” said Kaoru.

“Onward, to smiles!” Kokoro shouted, as the five immediately departed.

Saaya lets out a laugh. “Those guys got energy,” she commented, watching them leave the residence with the suit people trailing behind.

“We can't let them be the only ones fighting!” Kasumi grinned and turned to the other four, whom replied with a nod. “Let's go!”

* * *

“Th—there's the fog!”

The Happyrangers arrived at the scene as the fog expands before them, with people around them trying to escape its grasps.

“Alright everyone, get your vacuums ready!” Misaki commanded, as the five stretched their arms forward. “Aaaaand, go!”

A cyclone of vacuum wave from their hands began pulling the fog in, slowly forcing it away from their surroundings. The fog didn't get pulled immediately— it looked like it's resisting the vacuum.

“It's... trying to get away!” Kanon wailed.

“Then we'll pull it harder!” shouted Hagumi, tugging her arm to do so.

“Grr... fine! I'll show my true form!”

Suddenly, the fog converged into a single spot, revealing a hunched, reptile-like figure with red slits as eyes, hard black scales, sharp claws and a menacing frown.

“If I can't spread sadness with my fog, I'll just force it down everyone's throat!” he growled in a deeply raspy voice.

“No can do, mister monster!” Kokoro replied with an awfully large amount of cheerfulness, “why spread sadness when you can spread smiles and happiness instead?”

“Foolish girl, they're all worthless emotions!” roared the monster. “There will be no smiles once Lord Kaibuzu takes over... all there will be is sorrow and despair!”

“No smiles...? That's never going to happen!” Kokoro retorted optimistically, “because our goal is to make the world smile!”

“Yeah, and we'll reach that goal no matter what!” continued Misaki, a strong resolve within her words. “An ugly monster like you won't stop us from spreading our smiles!”

“Why you...!”

“And we'll help them too!”

The five Poppinrangers arrived on the scene, standing by the Happyrangers' side. 

“No matter much of the world is filled with sadness... as long as there's a smile, we'll work hard to protect it!” shouted Kasumi, pointing towards the Buzz.

“Enough! Your smiles means nothing in the face of **Sorrow Buzz**!” 

“Everyone, get ready! Our sparkling and heart-pounding feeling is going to stop you today!”

“Wait,” Misaki muttered, “that sounded kinda familiar...”

“Perish in despair!”

Sorrow Buzz called forth a black mist before him, revealing a horde of white Hives. At once, the Poppinrangers and Happyrangers charged towards them.

Misaki opened the flaps on Michelle's back, revealing two pods within it. They shot out a barrage of missiles, destroying a lot of Hives. Even Misaki was surprised by this. “W—wait! Since when can I do that?!”

Hagumi used her athleticism to maneuver herself through the Hives. Her suit seems to help out her movement speed, as she managed to evade a combo of Hive attacks by backflipping, then countering them with a spinning sweep kick.

“This is super mega awesome!!” she cheered. “It's just like TV shows with the masked heroes on them!”

Meanwhile, Kanon crumpled her hand into a fist as a group of Hives surrounded her. She thrusted her fist to a Hive, punching it so hard it was launched to the air and causing a shockwave that knocked over the other Hives around her.

“F—fuee...! I'm sorry!!” Kanon fumbled, pulling her fist back.

Another bunch of Hives tried to sneakily attack from her back... but Kaoru came into the scene, cutting them down with one majestic stroke of her blade.

“As the great bard said, "life giveth, life taketh away"...” cited Kaoru, “and I have taketh your lives to save my little kitten. How fleeting...”

Meanwhile, Kokoro is surrounded by more Hives... seemingly trying to make them smile.

“Come on, it's not that hard!” said Kokoro as the Hives raised their claws. “Why don't you guys try it? Let's start with you.”

But when Kokoro pointed at one of the Hives, the tip of her finger lit up and fired a stream of massive yellow laser, completely vaporizing the Hive. 

“Oh, don't want to? How about you?” 

Kokoro pointed her finger at the other two Hives... and vaporized them with her finger blast again.

“They don't want to either... wonder what's wrong with them?” she muttered to herself.

At the other side of the battle, the Poppinrangers are busy dispatching the remaining Hives.

“Looks like they're holding up on their own,” Rimi commented, after she took down two Hives with a well placed kick.

“Then we gotta keep up with them!” said Tae. “ **Weapon Call! Jump Mode!** ”

Tae leapt up to the air, dropping in for an exploding kick that took down a lot of Hives.

“Yeah! Time to end this!” Kasumi agreed, grinning under her helmet. “ **Weapon Call!** ”

Kasumi summoned her Starry Axe and chopped down three Hives charging towards her, before going straight towards Sorrow Buzz. But as she's about to land a hit on him...

“That won't work!”

His body dispersed into mist, once again becoming the fog that obscured their vision.

“ **Element Wind!** ”

However, that fog didn't last long— a tornado wiped the fog clean and sends Sorrow Buzz flying away.

Kasumi turned to where the attack originated. “Crimson!” she called with a lively tone, as Ran approached her.

“Sorry I'm late,” she said, twirling her sword. “Let's finish this.”

“Yeah!”

The Poppinrangers gathered together, their palms aimed towards the stunned Sorrow Buzz, charging an energy blast to finish him off.

“ **Poppin' Blaster!** ”

“ **Element Fire Slash!** ”

The combined energy blast along with Ran's fire wave caused a large explosion on contact... and Sorrow Buzz was no more.

Or was he?

The green beam shooting from the sky returned, reviving and enlarging Sorrow Buzz into a gargantuan monster. “Smiles are worthless!” he roared.

As the Poppinrangers and Happyrangers gathers to face the giant, Misaki suddenly recieved a call from the suit people.

“Misaki-san, please steer clear. We're dropping our prototype defense weapon.”

“E—eh?! Defense weapon??!”

As if right on cue... like an angel that descended from the heavens, a gargantuan-sized Michelle slowly dropped to the ground, facing the giant reptile-like Buzz.

“That's a big Michelle!!” Hagumi yelled excitedly.

“I feel like I just missed a lot of things...” Ran muttered, staring at the giant Michelle in awe.

The giant Michelle charged towards Sorrow Buzz, landing a powerful punch that toppled the Buzz to the ground, breaking a few buildings in the process.

However, the Buzz quickly turned into mist, appearing behind Michelle and landing a claw swipe as a counter attack. The pink bear was knocked away, crashing into a tall building before falling down.

“We have to help Michelle!” Kasumi shouted. “Let's call our Poppin' Engines!”

“We're counting on you, Poppinrangers!” said Kokoro, followed with nods of agreement from the other Happyrangers. “All of you can make the world smile!”

The Poppinrangers felt a certain warmth from their wrist... and another Spirit Crystal adorned their Risers. A yellow one, proof of Harohapi's faith.

“Alright!” Kasumi nodded, before confidently thrusting her fist to the sky. “ **Miracle Call, go!** ”

The other Rangers did the same.

“ **Miracle Call!** ”

“ **Revenge Call!** ”

They called their respective Poppin' Engines, forming themselves into **Hoshi Gattai Happy Party** — a giant robot that's the combination of their Engines. Meanwhile, Ran hopped onto her own Engine— a giant samurai robot called **Crimson Knight**.

The two robots stood before Sorrow Buzz, who looked livid. “Persistent fools!” 

“Say that to yourself,” Arisa bit back. “Yellow, let's try our new powers!”

“Yeah!” Saaya nodded. “Arms, discharge!”

Happy Party's arms removed themselves, turning back into their original Engine forms. 

“ **Spirit Call: Wacha-Mocha Smasher!** ”

“ **Spirit Call: Happy Magical Cannon!** ”

In its place, a giant blue arm with a hammer-shaped hand occupied the left side, while a yellow tubular cannon occupied the right.

“Let's go!” shouted Kasumi, and the two robots are off.

Happy Party fired a barrage of blasts towards Sorrow Buzz, but he dispersed into mist before they could connect. He reappeared right behind them, but...

“Gotcha!” 

Crimson Knight already spun around by then, slashing Sorrow Buzz. It was a direct hit, as the Buzz reeled back a few meters. Not wasting their chance, Happy Party charged their left hand hammer with an electric surge, swinging it right towards Sorrow Buzz's belly. The electric surge paralyzed the Buzz immediately, rooting it to the spot.

Both Happy Party and Crimson Knight leapt back for their finisher... and the giant Michelle stood with them, joining the strike.

“One final strike, everyone!” Kasumi commanded. At once, they fired their final attack— Happy Party with a beam strike from the cannon, Crimson Knight with a beam from its sword, and the giant Michelle fired destructive laser from her eyes. 

“You... I WON'T FORGIVE ALL OF YOUUUU!!”

Their attacks combine into one massive wave, destroying Sorrow Buzz without trace. Victory once again!

* * *

The members of Popipa watched as Kokoro and her bandmates slowly removing their Happyranger suits fom themselves. It proved to be difficult... because even with the help from Misaki and the suit people, it still took them a while to take it off.

Kasumi briefly glanced around. “Where's Ran-chan?”

“Going back home,” Arisa replied, “something about flower arrangement school, she said.”

“Heeeey!”

Finally taken their suits off, the members of Harohapi approached them.

“The suit people said that they're going to upgrade those body armor and fixing the giant Michelle,” Misaki explained. “So, I guess we have to leave things to the Poppinrangers for now.”

“Ehh? Michelle needs fixing?” asked Hagumi, her eyes widened.

Misaki massaged her forehead. “The giant Michelle is a robot, Hagumi... the real Michelle is going to fix her up.”

“Oh, I see!”

“That was fast...! Where was that acceptance when I admitted that I'm Michelle...?!” Misaki muttered under her breath.

“Hm? You said anything, Misaki?” asked Kokoro, who seem to have heard bits of Misaki's ramblings.

“A—ah, nothing, nothing!” Misaki waved her hands.

“Well... anyway!” Kokoro turned towards the members of Popipa, “thank you for your help! We managed to get people back smiling again!”

It looked to be true— the people passing by around them now have smiles upon their faces.

“I guess the fog really did cause it,” Arisa muttered, heaving a sigh of relief.

“We didn't do much, though?” asked Saaya. Of course, that's disregarding what they did as Poppinrangers.

“No, you guys did a lot!” Kokoro shook her head.

“Yeah...!” Kanon agreed. “You guys told us to not only believe in the Poppinrangers, but to ourselves as well!”

“Hm, hm! The Poppinrangers has helped me twice now... so I want to do what I can to help them too!” said Hagumi, smiling from ear to ear.

“How I truly wish to help them as well,” Kaoru nodded. “Alas, we can do it when we have the chance again.”

The Popipa members stared at each other with glee, ecstatic that what they've done had inspired more people. It's such a great feeling.

“Alright! Why don't we celebrate over dinner at my house?” Kokoro offered.

“Yeah!” cheered all of them, walking back to Tsurumaki's residence with their heads high.

* * *

“Damn you!”

The following night was supposed to be tranquil for Ran, but it seemed that she can't have it her way. Forced to transform into Crimson Revenger, she had to clash swords with a mysterious figure— the black, teal-eyed Ranger she saw once before.

Her sword raised, Ran's fiery gaze is locked upon her foe as they circle around each other.

“Give it up, Crimson Revenger,” said the black Ranger. Their voice was very deep and distorted— too much for it to be natural, so it's obvious to Ran that it was a fake voice. “Give me the names of Poppinrangers, and I will do you no harm.”

“Like hell I will!” Ran barked back, tightening the grip on her sword. “I'll never betray my friends, so you can just give it up now!”

“Friends...? They're your friends now? It seems you've forgotten your roots... betrayed them, in fact.”

“What are you talking about?!”

Suddenly, the black Ranger's body is engulfed in black flames.

“I won't waste my time here if you refuse,” they said. “Though, I'm sure we'll meet again, Crimson Revenger.”

“Wait!” Ran yelled, but too late. The flames swallowed the Ranger's body whole, before they disappeared into nothing.

“Who on Earth was that...?”


	9. A Chocolate Full of Doubts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After seeing some social media posts about her Chocolate Pink self, Rimi fell to a slump. What would she do to motivate herself?

“Oh... a viral SNS post about us?”

Compared to all the action-packed thrills she has gotten through these past weeks, today was a rather mundane day for Rimi. As most of her friends are busy, she decided to spend her time lying on her bed, checking out social media posts on her phone.

“They're calling us cool...” she muttered with a laugh, scrolling through the replies from that post. “Oh, some of them are listing their favorites!”

> **@pinkymountain**
> 
> ↳ The red one is the coolest! She's brave and full of courage!
> 
> **@roseliafan77**
> 
> ↳ blue one tho... she's super fast it's awesome ><
> 
> **@whitefonica**
> 
> ↳ Personally, I think the yellow one is the best. She seems to be the most knowledgeable out of the entire team, and often comes up with their tactics in battle. Not only that, she also has a double baton as her weapon— which in my opinion is the best type of weapon you can have. (1/34)
> 
> **@koneko_h**
> 
> ↳ purple one is cool

“Wow, everyone is supporting us in their own way!” said Rimi. Where are the people talking about her, though? She scrolled a bit further and found a post.

> **@bearmanager**
> 
> Why isn't anyone talking about the Pink Ranger? She's really cute!
> 
> **@edgyedge401**
> 
> ↳ being cute ain't going to kill those aliens
> 
> **@kXabsHo990**
> 
> ↳ she's practically the least useful out of all of them
> 
> **@pikapikice**
> 
> ↳ why are the replies so hateful 😔

Those words felt like daggers, stabbing through her heart. 

“I'm... the least useful...?”

* * *

Those criticisms she saw online kept coming back to her mind the next day. She stared absently through the classroom window, perching her chin on her hand.

The more she thought about it, the more it felt more obvious. Kasumi acts as their leader and the spirit of the team, Tae is the agile Ranger with a blistering pace, Saaya is the most perceptive one, and Arisa is very no-nonsense and confident. 

So, what about her...? What role does she fill amidst all of the other Rangers? She felt like she hadn't contributed as much as them... it's really starting to get on her nerves.

“Rimi-rin?”

“Eh?!”

Saaya's voice crashed Rimi's train of thoughts, as she turned to see her classmate in person.

“S, Saaya-chan? What's wrong?”

“Nothing... you just look like you're very deep in thought,” replied Saaya, her lips forming a concerned smile.

“Oh, I was just thinking about homework,” Rimi lied. 

“I see... by the way, if you don't mind, do you mind going with me somewhere?”

“Eh?”

* * *

After a short train ride from their school, Rimi and Saaya arrived in front of the shopping mall.

“The mall...?” Rimi furrowed her eyebrows, turning towards Saaya. “What are we doing here?”

“I'm thinking about knitting something cute for my siblings,” Saaya explained as the two entered the shopping mall, “and I need your help picking up the colors for them.”

“Something cute...” muttered Rimi, once again lost in thoughts.

Saaya raised her brows. “Eh? Something wrong with what I said?”

“N, nothing!” Rimi promptly shook her head, trying to sway the topic. “Um... what are you planning to knit, Saaya-chan?”

Thankfully, Saaya took the bait. “Hmm... I'm thinking about making felt frog dolls,” she replied thoughtfully. “Cute frog designs are quire popular these days.”

“Ah... then I'm sure we can figure it out!” chirped Rimi, smiling from ear to ear.

The two made their way towards the upper floor, heading towards the handicrafts store. Rimi was quiet the whole way through, still thinking over what good she had done for Poppinrangers... it seems she's going to be bothered by this for a while.

“Ah, Rimi? Saaya?”

The two stopped and turned to where the voice came from. Misaki approached them, still in her Hanasakigawa uniform.

“Oh, Misaki!” Saaya greeted her. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm going to the handicrafts store,” said Misaki. “Need to restock my knitting tools.”

“That's perfect! We're going there too.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Mhm!” Rimi gave a swift nod. “Saaya-chan wants to knit a doll for her siblings!”

Misaki pursed her lips. “I see...” 

“Ah, since you're here, I'd like to ask a few suggestions too,” requested Saaya. “Mind if we tag along?”

“Absolutely not,” Misaki replied, a slight crease on the corners of her lips. “Let's get going, then.”

The three proceeded on to where the handicrafts store is. They shouldn't be too far from it now...

“Oh, man... someone made another post about Michelle from that Happyranger thing,” Misaki laughed bitterly as she scrolled through her phone. “Man, can't believe I witnessed all of that.”

“Does Michelle gets posts on SNS all the time?” Rimi asked curiously.

Misaki stretched her arms forward. “Well... not "all the time", but every once in a while. Usually some funny posts, maybe a hater, sometimes a bunch of fan posts...”

Saaya squinted her eyes. “A hater?”

“Yup,” Misaki nodded. “ _Haters_ , actually. But it's inevitable, really...”

“What does the hater usually say?” asked Rimi again, getting more and more invested by the topic.

“Well... something along the lines of "a mascot shouldn't be in a band", or "Michelle does nothing useful" or something like that.” 

“Those are mean things to say...!” Rimi gasped, though she was also reminded of the SNS posts that said basically the same thing about her. 

“Eh, what can you do about it, right?” Misaki shrugged. “There always will be people who won't be happy about you. Doesn't matter, as long as I believe that I'm working as hard as I can.”

“As long as you believe...?”

“Yup. As long as me and me friends believe that I'm giving my all, those negative words won't get to me.”

Rimi thought about it for a moment, her eyes darting to the floor. As long as she and her friends believe that she works hard... everything else doesn't matter?

“That's one way of putting it,” Saaya commented.

Misaki huffed. “Some of Kokoro's positivity probably rubbed on me...”

**Swoosh!**

Suddenly, an overwhelming burst of wind came from the center of the mall. It created a violent whirlwind that sends objects flying everywhere.

“Misaki-chan, get down!” 

Rimi immediately pulled Misaki down to the ground as she narrowly avoided a large couch flying her way.

“Is it a Buzz?!” Saaya shouted, running to see what's on the ground floor.

Sure enough, there stood a humanoid flying mantis-like monster, its sharp green hands raised. 

“ **Cyclone Buzz** makes his debut! Gotta say, I think I pass with flying colors!” said the Buzz, as he starts to ascend to the air, a cyclone forming beneath his two legs.

“Rimi-rin!” Saaya turned to her friend, who nodded and stood up.

“Misaki-chan, wait here!” she said, before running off with Saaya towards the ground floor.

“ **Miracle Change!** ”

As they arrived to face the Cyclone Buzz, both of them fired blasts off their palms to take him down. However, Cyclone Buzz easily zipped past through the energy blasts.

“Oho, Poppinrangers! I'd say I didn't expect to see you here, but I'd be lying!” he said. “Scatter like the winds!”

Controlling the wind, Cyclone Buzz hurled a number of furnitures their way. Fortunately, the Rangers managed to avoid it in the nick of time.

“Weapon Call: **Cornet Cannon!** ” shouted Rimi. Her right hand turned into a hand cannon. She quickly shot pellets of energy blasts towards Cyclone Buzz, who was forced to evade them.

“Yellow! I'll handle this!” Rimi called to her partner, while focusing her fire towards the flying Buzz. “Please take care of evacuating everyone!”

Saaya nodded, feeling that Rimi was mostly suited for the task. “Be careful, Pink!” she shouted back, before running off.

“What's this? Trying to stand on your own?” mocked Cyclone Buzz. “Well, too bad! I'll take the wind off your sails!”

The Buzz intensified the cyclone forming around him, tossing more furnitures and large objects at Rimi. She had to dodge a lot of them, unable to find any opening to fire back.

“Agh!”

A wooden cupboard managed to ram her against a wall, breaking apart as she fell to the ground.

“That's all you got? Shame... I was hoping for a brilliant take-off, but all I got was a pitiful crash landing,” said the Buzz, readying a set of objects to ram towards Rimi.

“N—no... I'm not stopping now!” Rimi struggled to her feet. “Not until... not until I give it my all...!”

“Pink Ranger! Don't give up now!”

Misaki's voice rang from the top floor, and Rimi could hear it loud and clearly. She could feel that warmth on her wrist, forming a Spirit Crystal on her Riser. Misaki's strong trust on her...

“Weapon Call: **Michelle Armor!** ”

Her hand cannon disappeared, in its place a sleek exoskeleton with a large hump on its back and two cannons on the shoulderplates.

As Cyclone Buzz launched the furnitures straight at Rimi, a yellow light emitted from her armor's hump. Within seconds... she blasted off from the ground and into the air, maneuvering between the projectiles and dashing straight towards the Buzz.

“ **Full Power Blast!** ”

Her two shoulder cannons released a pair of destructive laser beams directed straight at the Buzz. It pushed and blasted off the Buzz through the mall's ceiling, sending it outside. Rimi gave chase, flying through the crack made by the Buzz.

Cyclone Buzz was falling to the ground when Rimi reached the outskirts of the mall. She wasted no time in launching another laser beam, this time powerful enough to vaporize the Buzz.

“Pink! That was awesome!”

Rimi heard voices from below. She looked down to see her four Poppinranger friends, waving and yelling encouragements at her. 

Then she heard a blast.

Fortunately, Rimi was quick enough to dodge whatever that was. She turned to see...

“Black Rangers...?!”

Four Rangers with black suits and color-coded visors suddenly appeared on the scene, one of them being the Ranger with teal-colored visor they've seen before. Rimi quickly descends to join the Poppinrangers as they face these mysterious Rangers.

“That was a good showing,” said the teal visored Ranger.

“Who are you people?!” demanded Kasumi. “Why did you attack Pink?!”

“Because that's our job, silly,” said the Ranger with the peach-colored visor mockingly. Their voice sounded deep and distorted, seemingly hiding what they actually sound like.

“Ah, right... introductions,” said the teal-visored Ranger. “Let us introduce ourselves... I'm **Voidger Teal**.”

The peach-visored Ranger gave a narcissistic peace sign. “ **Voidger Peach** ~” 

The tallest of them, one with a scarlet-colored visor, pumped their own fists together. “ **Voidger Scarlet**!”

The last one had a light yellow-colored visor, and they're the most stoic of them all. “ **Voidger Canary**.”

“We are the **Voidgers**... and Lord Kaibuzu has tasked us specifically to end your lives,” said Voidger Teal.

“You work for Lord Kaibuzu?!” yelled Arisa. 

“You shouldn't be that angry, dear,” said Voidger Peach. “We're not going to start our jobs now... so we're giving you time to run.”

“Not a chance! We're not going to run!” Tae barked back.

“Well... it was worth the effort,” Voidger Teal shrugged. “Next time we meet... will be your last. Count your days, Poppinrangers.”

Suddenly, the Voidgers shroud themselves with black flames... and they were gone.

“Voidgers...” muttered Rimi. Looks like their trouble just doubled.

“Voidgers or Buzzes, we can't let them stop us!” cheered Kasumi. “All we gotta do is to show our power and stop Lord Kaibuzu!”

“Yeah. Whatever it takes,” Tae agreed, and the others nodded as well. Whoever's on their way... they're not going to stop.

* * *

“Ah, so that's why you were acting weird...”

After their encounter, Rimi and Saaya walked back home. Obviously, they had to cancel their plans... but they managed to reconcile with Misaki, who's perfectly safe and ready to teach them about knitting soon.

“Yeah... I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier,” Rimi apologized, scratching her nape.

“It's alright!” Saaya patted her on the shoulder. “I never thought SNS posts would affect you that much, hahaha.”

“I was just feeling a little insecure... that's all.” said Rimi, letting out a sigh.

“And that's natural. But you shouldn't let them go to your head, 'kay?”

Rimi nodded. “Also, Saaya-chan... Misaki-chan said that said that I'll be fine as long as me and my friends believe that I'm giving it my all... um, do you...”

“Believe in you? Of course I do,” replied Saaya, gently patting Rimi's head. “And I'm sure the others are, too.”

Hearing that response, Rimi curved a dimpled smile. She feels great to finally overcome this issue... and to stand with her Poppinranger friends as equals.

“Oh, look! They made posts about you already!” said Saaya, as the two looked over her phone.

> **@bearmanager**
> 
> The Pink Ranger isn't only cute, she's also super cool! I stan her.
> 
> **@darkness9one**
> 
> bruhhhh did you see the pink ranger?? she literally flew like a jetplane and shot lasers out from her shoulders like holy ffffff
> 
> **@humbleff**
> 
> Pink Ranger saved everyone in the mall today. She's the coolest one, no debate 😍

“Wow...” Rimi gasped in awe. They're all so positive... she could feel an overwhelming sense of joy.

But then, she noticed something.

“Uhm... I think I've seen this username before...” she said pointing at one of the posts.

“@bearmanager?” asked Saaya. “That does sound familiar... wait.”

They realized who it was at the same time, turning to each other in mild surprise.

“It's... Misaki-chan?!”


	10. Pastel-colored Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pastel*Pallettes asked the Poppinrangers to do an MV recording with them, but things go awry very quickly...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10 chapters, that's pretty poggers!!

“Eh?! An MV with Pastel*Pallettes?!”

The request bludgeoned them so hard in the head, and yet Tae uttered it in such a painfully casual way.

“Yup,” she nodded. “Chisato-senpai said that they're making a superhero-themed MV, and they would love it if we make a guest appearance there as Poppinrangers.”

“Nevermind that— how did Chisato-senpai knew that you're a Poppinranger?” asked Saaya, her eyebrows knitted together.

Tae's gaze went absent as she pinched her chin. “Hm... I think she figured that out when I saved her...”

“Hey! Don't go acting like that's not a big deal at all!!” yelled Arisa. “Didn't Kris explicitly say that we're supposed to hide our identities?!”

“Well... she figured it out herself, so what can I do?” replied Tae, still looking way too relaxed for this.

“Um... at least it's just one Chisato-senpai, right?” said Rimi. 

“She is pretty apt at figuring things out, so I'm actually not that surprised...” muttered Saaya. “In any case, should we help her?”

“Since she went out of her way to ask O-Tae, I think we should!” Kasumi finally chimed in after that initial shock. “Besides, isn't it our job to help others?”

“Yeah, but this is different!” argued Arisa. “We're not fighting against Buzzes or all that... we're going to be recorded for a music video! Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?”

“As much as it is, I kinda want to try it,” Saaya replied. “Besides, if Chisato-senpai was so adamant about it, then we really need to help her.”

“That's what I said!” Kasumi agreed. “Come on, let's do it!”

“Fine, fine...” Arisa huffed, admitting defeat. “Whatever floats your boat.”

* * *

“Oh, wow! Chisato-chan, you actually brought them here!”

The Poppinrangers were greeted with an uproar of warm welcome as they entered the recording studio. Of course, they're already in their outfits, so that kind of reaction was somewhat warranted.

“Yup. They agreed to help,” said Chisato, who had been leading them into the studio. There was a small smile of satisfaction curled upon her lips. The other Pastel*Pallettes members still looked amazed, as if they had just met their idols.

“Wow!!” Aya quickly dashed towards Kasumi, briskly shaking her hand. “Miss Sparkling Red, I'm a big fan!” she said, her eyes glinting with excitement.

“Ehe— thank you...” Kasumi grinned awkwardly under her helmet, rubbing her nape. It feels weird, interacting with someone you know so well while posing as someone else.

“I think you're the coolest one, Purple Ranger-chan!” 

“W—Waaaah!”

Arisa wailed, not expecting Hina to suddenly pop up from her back like that. She took a few steps away, trying her best to suppress her tsundere-ness. My goodness, this is going to be difficult.

“Come on, guys! All of them are really cool!” said Maya, who's having the time of her life herself, asking for them to take a picture with her. “Ah, Pink-san! Can I take a photo with you too?”

“M—me...?!” Rimi babbled, having a minor panic herself. 

“Ah, right! Photos!” Aya snapped her fingers, before pulling out her smartphone. “Miss Red, can I take a selfie with you? Pleaaaase?”

“Sure!” Kasumi nodded excitedly. 

“Girls... I think we'll have plenty of time to take photos later,” Chisato finally stepped in, stopping the ensuing chaos. “We still have a music video to record, right?”

“A—ah, right...” muttered Aya, scratching her head. “Sorry, Chisato-chan...”

“It's alright. Well, everyone, shall we get going?”

“Wait a second!”

Everyone turned towards Eve, who looked the least enthusiastic out of all the Pastel Pallettes members. She stepped forward, staring at the Rangers in confusion.

“Where's... Crimson-san?” she asked soon after.

“Oh! Crimson is currently busy with something!” replied Kasumi. “But, she said that she wanted you to continue igniting your Bushido spirit, Eve-chan!”

“Ah!” Eve nodded, a determined look upon her face. “Then, I will do what Crimson-san said and work hard! With the spirit of Bushido!”

Chisato laughed softly. “I guess I'm not the only one here who's attached to a Ranger...” she muttered.

* * *

The following hours were spent with all of them rehearsing and recording shots in front of a green screen. The Pastel*Pallettes members wore sleek, color-coded dresses and translucent visors, giving them the appearance of sci-fi themed magical girls. To support that look, they even did a few magical girl poses and had prop weapons of their own.

The Poppinrangers didn't do much except for a few cameos, acting as the heroes that helped Pastel*Pallettes in the last portion of the MV. Still, it was quite a lot of fun for them— being inside their costumes for a long period wasn't that bad because they're air conditioned. 

“Cut!” said the director, after one last scene involving the Rangers. “Thanks for your help, Poppinrangers! Girls, we still need one last shot— we might be able to wrap it today.”

“Whoo! That was fun!” cheered Kasumi, as the five left the set to watch the final few shots being recorded.

“You moved around too much, Ka— I mean, Red...” complained Arisa. “Man, I really need a drink.”

“How can we drink when our mouth is covered by the helmet...?” asked Rimi, tapping her helmet's mouthpiece.

“That's a good question,” Saaya muttered. “Maybe whoever made our Risers didn't think it through...”

“Well, we can take them off—”

“Don't!!”

The four quickly yelled in panic before Tae could remove her helmet.

“I know,” Tae replied absently, “I mean, not here.”

Arisa slumped her body against the wall. “Sheesh, and I thought you were going to reveal yourself to everyone...”

**Beep!**

Their communicators suddenly rang an alert.

“ _Girls!_ ” came the voice of Kris. “ _I know you're having some fun, but this is a major emergency! There's a Buzz sighting nearby!_ ”

“Talk about unfortunate timing...” Rimi sighed.

“Well, we just have to take care of it!” said Kasumi. “Everyone, let's go!”

* * *

The sounds of roaring and explosions became louder and louder as they moved to where the Buzz is located. Once there, they spotted a rampaging Buzz assaulting the civilians nearby.

The Buzz has a bulky humanoid body, with a thick gray skin and a head in the shape of a rhino. He rammed and broke through buildings and cars, injuring a lot of people in the process.

“No one gets in the way of Tusk Buzz! Raaaaaaargh!”

“He looks really angry...” muttered Rimi.

“He's not going to stop us! Attack!” shouted Kasumi, and the five immediately charged towards the Buzz.

“Poppinrangers! You're all going down!” the Buzz roared. Kasumi and Tae both landed a kick on him, but that doesn't seem to affect him at all. Tusk Buzz grabbed their legs and hurled them away, sending them flying to the ground.

“Physical hits don't work...?!” uttered Kasumi through gritted teeth, struggling back to her feet.

“Energy blasts, then!” shouted Saaya, as she and Rimi fired off blasts from their palms. However, Tusk Buzz was surprisingly agile, dodging them with ease and tackling Saaya with his body. The Ranger plummeted to the ground, as the Buzz charged towards Rimi next.

But he didn't even manage to reach Rimi, because a green vine whip managed to wrap around and restrain his body. Arisa pulled hard as her Green Grappler stretched tight, trying to take down the Buzz. Unfortunately, Tusk Buzz is physically stronger— after a struggle, he's the one who pulled Arisa close himself, before tossing her aside and removing the whip ensnaring him.

“Weapon Ca—”

Rimi couldn't even perform a Weapon Call, because Tusk Buzz rammed at her with full force, sending her flying away.

“How dare you...!”

Suddenly, Kasumi slashed Tusk Buzz's back with her axe. It seems to graze his skin a little... and alert the Buzz of her presence.

“Why won't you give up?! Just bow down to Lord Kaibuzu already!” roared the Buzz. He punched Kasumi straight in the face, knocking the poor girl a few feet away with the sheer force of it.

“That's... ridiculous...! We're not going to give up our world... our happiness!”

Despite the punch, Kasumi still managed to get back up, and so did her friends.

“We won't let Buzzes like you... or Lord Kaibuzu... have it their way!”

Resolutely, Kasumi pointed her axe at Tusk Buzz.

“We're... we're not going to let the things precious to us fall... not to some selfish ruler like him!” Arisa followed suit, standing by Kasumi's side.

“It's what we must do... it's what we choose to do!” said Tae, joining them too.

“Because we're here... to protect this world we love...!” Saaya's words trembled due to her aching body, but she still stood firm with the rest.

“And we're not going to let anyone stop us from doing that...!” continued Rimi, as the five of them finally stood together.

“Because we're... the Star Squadron, Poppinranger!” they shout in unison.

“Enough with the talking! I'm going to end all of you!” Tusk Buzz roared, ready to charge again.

“You're not going to! We won't let you!”

Suddenly, the five Pastel*Pallettes members stood between the Rangers and Tusk Buzz.

“The Poppinrangers may protect us all the time... but we're going to protect them too when they're in danger!” shouted Aya, before turning her head towards Kasumi. “Miss Red... you've shown me what it takes to be courageous... so now, I'm going to show you what I've learned from you!”

“Aya-senpai...” muttered Kasumi.

Chisato threw a glance towards Tae. “You've saved my life... now it's time for me to return the favor.”

“And it's not going to be very boppin' if the world gets destroyed, so we'll fight for it too!” cheered Hina in an awfully positive tone.

“Our Bushido spirit will shine through... and defeat all of you!” shouted Eve determinedly.

“And we're not on our own... everyone!” called Maya.

Suddenly, more people gathered in front of the Rangers, acting as their shield against Tusk Buzz. 

Kasumi gasped in awe, and so did the others. “Everyone...!” 

“Raaaagh! Doesn't matter how many of you are there, I'm going to crush you all!” roared Tusk Buzz. He charged straight towards the crowd of people, who stood fearlessly before the monster.

But as he's about to ram them, a protective barrier appeared between the crowd and Tusk Buzz, bouncing him back a few feet.

“Seriously, you people could've been hurt...”

Arisa had her left hand stretched forward to conjure the barrier, while her right held the Green Grappler tight. She swung the whip forward, ensnaring the Buzz iagain.

“Everyone! If you're planning to help out, pull this whip with me!” she commanded. The crowd of people didn't need telling twice— they tugged the whip as hard as they could, locking Tusk Buzz in place.

“Weapon Call: **Brave Lance**!” Kasumi shouted, calling forth her massive green lance to her hand. Tae, Saaya and Rimi all grabbed the lance too— together, they charged towards Tusk Buzz, pushing the lance through his thick skin. 

“NOOO! ME, DEFEATED?!”

Eventually... it cracked, and Tusk Buzz exploded into bits.

“Yes! We did it!” 

They all cheered, as another Buzz was defeated for the day.

* * *

“Thank you for your help, Poppinrangers!” said Aya, smiling from ear to ear. 

“We didn't expect it to end up like this... but thank you for coming,” Chisato added.

“No, no no! Thank _you_ for helping us!” Kasumi replied cheerfully. “If you didn't come, we wouldn't be able to take care of that monster!”

“Huehehe... we, we're being thanked by Sparkling Red herself!” Maya stammered, blushing slightly.

“Geez... we're not big celebrities or anything...” muttered Arisa disapprovingly.

“It's too bad Crimson-san didn't get to see my Bushido spirit...” moaned Eve, her eyes faltering to the ground.

“Don't worry! We'll let her know!” chirped Kasumi, and Eve looked a little happier again.

Aya snapped her fingers, remembering something. “Ah, right! We haven't taken a photo yet!” 

Pulling out her phone from her pocket, Aya placed the camera in front of all of them.

“Alright... everyone's in position! One, two three... say cheese!”

“ _Cheese!_ ”

* * *

Elsewhere, not far from the Poppinrangers...

“Just who the hell are you people?!”

The sounds of clashing metal rang through as Ran had to face Voidger Teal again— this time, under her own accord. Meanwhile, the other Voidgers watched from afar.

“You don't want to know, Crimson Revenger,” replied Teal, leaping back from the clash. “And you shouldn't have interfered... we're targeting the Poppinrangers, not you.”

“I'm not letting you lay a finger on them!” shouted Ran, dashing forward with her two swords. The following strike was blocked by Teal again.

“Grown so attached to them?” Teal hissed, resentment clear from their distorted voice. “Maybe you've forgotten something on the way!”

“Shut up!”

Ran spun around and swung her blade swiftly, finally getting a clean hit on Teal. Her foe was sent reeling back a few feet.

“Teal... stop playing around, will you?” groaned Voidger Peach. “Tusk Buzz is already dead. We're wasting our time here.”

“Hm... I guess you're right.”

Teal lowered their sword, as the four Voidgers engulfed themselves in black flames.

“That was fun. See you later, Crimson— or should I say... Ran?”

“Wait!”

Too late. The Voidgers disappeared with the flames, leaving Ran by herself.

“Who are those people...?!”


	11. Do Heroes Get Sick Days?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saaya suddenly falls ill! How would the Poppinrangers react to this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually don't know how to portray the siblings so they're probably ooc sksjkdfjksk
> 
> Anyway please enjoy Saaya going apesh*t

“ **Poppin' Blaster**!”

“ **Element Fire Slash**!”

“Uaaaaaagh! Curse you, Poppinrangers!!”

Another day, another Buzz defeated by the Poppinrangers. Arisa heaved a sigh as soon as they defeated it— unfortunately, this has became part their mundane reality.

“Man... is it just me, or are they popping out more often than usual?” she groaned.

“You're right,” Ran agreed. “And those Voidgers, too... I wonder if Lord Kaibuzu is planning something.”

“Whatever it is, we just have to stop it like usual!” beamed Kasumi. “Same as always, right?”

Without warning, Arisa smacked the back of Kasumi's head.

“You're being too casual again.”

“Ow— ow, ow...”

Saaya lets out a laugh. “Well, there's nothing else we can do except do our best. So we just ha— hat-choo!”

Everyone turned to Saaya at once, as she proceeded to sneeze again. And again. And again.

“Y—Yellow... are you alright?” asked Rimi, her voice thick with concern.

“I think... I think I am— achoo!”

In reality, Saaya was feeling worse and worse by the second. Her head started to throb badly, even though nothing hit her on their previous encounter.

“We need to get you back home,” said Tae firmly. Together, they headed away from their prior battle scene.

* * *

“39 degrees?!”

Even with Saaya's initial refusal, the other Poppinrangers decided to stay in her house for a while, taking care of her as she lay on the bed. There's nothing she could do to reject them, since she felt too weak to do so.

“My God, Saaya...” muttered Arisa, rechecking the thermometer in his hand. It wasn't a mistake— the display shows 39°C.

Kasumi came striding into the room with towel drenched in icy water. “Here!”

“Guys, I appreciate the concern, but you're all being too excessive...” Saaya spoke up. Being the group's "mom friend" most of the time, she's never gotten used of being pampered herself.

“What do you mean, too excessive?” asked Ran apprehensively, looking a little irked. “They're trying to take care of you, Saaya. Don't dismiss that...”

“Ahaha, alright, alright. It's just... usually, I'm the one treating people when they're sick.” 

“Jun and Sana-chan, you mean?” asked Rimi, while rinsing off the wet towel and placing it on Saaya's forehead.

“Not just that, but my mom too... you guys know she tends to get sick during work.”

“Ah, that's right...” Kasumi pinched her chin, before her lips gave way for a bright smile. “Well, now _we're_ the ones going to take care of you, Saaya!”

“Yeah, so you can just sit tight,” added Arisa, smiling smugly herself.

“Choo, choo! Train's coming.”

Tae walked into the room with a bowl of warm chicken soup.

“...you're supposed to say that when you're feeding the soup,” chided Arisa.

“Oh, okay!” Tae gave a nod, scooping a helping of soup with a spoon. “Train's coming, Saaya.”

Feeling that there's no harm in being playful this time around, Saaya obliged and opened her mouth. Tae drove the spoon in and fed her... and it tasted nice and warm.

“How is it?” asked Tae, tilting her head slightly. “Good?”

Saaya grinned. “It's great!”

The door to her room swung open again, revealing Saaya's two little sibling. 

“Onee-chan, onee-chan!” 

Jun and Sana both approached Saaya, and she couldn't be any more grateful of their presence.

“Onee-chan, let us take care of you too!” said Jun determinedly. 

“Sure,” Saaya replied, gently patting both oth their heads. “But don't forget about mom too, alright?”

The two nodded, bright smiles upon their pate reflected in Saaya's own.

“Heee? Ran?”

Another person came walking into Saaya's room. Everyone turned to see...

“M—Moca?”

Ran stood up straight, her eyebrows knitted together.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was planning to get some buns, but then I heard poor Saaya got sick~” said Moca, glancing over the girl on her bed. “Moca-chan wishes you to get better really soon, Saaya~”

“Mhm. Thanks, Moca,” replied Saaya, still with a smile on her face. It's getting really crowded in here.

“Ah, what about you, Ran?” Moca riposted the question, turning over to her childhood friend. “What brings your presence here?”

“I—I was buying some bread as well,” Ran lied, moving closer towards Moca. “Anyway, let's head back home. We're filling up Saaya's room.”

“Eeeh? But I just got here...” complained Moca, but Ran had already dragged her into the doorframe and out from the room.

* * *

The next few days were rather uneventful for Saaya as she remained rooted to her bed, with occasional walks around her house. Still, with all of the Buzz fighting and school work she had buried herself with this past month, she secretly felt grateful of this mundane break— even if she was sort of forced to it. After all, since when do heroes get sick days?

Though, sometimes she does itch to come back to the fields— hearing her friends' exciting stories about how they took care of the Buzz of the day without her really made her miss being a Poppinranger.

Speaking of which, that's another thing she has been thinking about... the upsurge of Buzz appearance. A Buzz could appear almost everyday— even two or three at the same time. She's getting more and more anxious about this... and her inability to fight only added fuel to the fire.

“Onee-chan?”

Her little brother's words broke her out from her reverie, as she immediately turned to him.

“Are you okay? You're really quiet,” said Jun.

“I'm fine, I'm fine,” Saaya shook it off, smiling serenely.

“Oh... okay then! Um, let me get you some drink!”

Saaya could feel that Jun wasn't thoroughly convinced, hence why he quickly departed. He's really growing fast, and Saaya couldn't have been any less proud.

“They're the ones I'm protecting...” she muttered, glancing over the Miracle Riser on her wrist. The object that grants her the power to do so. 

“I'll keep on fighting. Until this world... and them... are saved.”

She heard footsteps coming from outside her room. 

“Jun? You're there? Are you—”

—a teal-colored energy blast flew from outside and into the room, directed straight at Saaya. Had she not rolled away from her bed in time, she would've gotten hit. Instead, the blast crashed to the wall, causing a loud explosion and knocking down all the things in her room.

Saaya glanced over to the door... and her heart sank.

“Voidger...?!”

Voidger Teal slowly approached Saaya, as she struggled to her feet. Her head was starting to throb again... but she has to ignore it for now.

“Saaya... or, no... should I say, Beating Yellow?” Teal spoke triumphantly. “How lucky that I managed to catch you on this state.”

“What... what are you doing here?!” barked Saaya fiercely, slowly taking steps away from Teal.

“I told you, didn't I? The next time you see us— _me_ —would be your last.”

“If you think I'm going down that easy, you're wrong! **Miracle Change**!”

A yellow flash of light, and Saaya immediately threw punch after punch towards Teal. Her moves were rather slow and sloppy, however— she still hasn't fully recovered from her sickness, and Teal took full advantage of this. They deflected one of Saaya's punches and countered with a chokehold, before tossing her out through the window and into the road.

Saaya forced her body to stand up as Teal descended from the room themselves.

“Getting real sloppy?” mocked the Voidger. “Too bad, because this will be your last course. Weapon Call: **Void Saber**!”

Teal called forth their sword— a majorly black curved sword with gleaming teal lights on the edges.

“Weapon Call: **Double Beater**!”

Refusing to give up, Saaya called for her twin batons and attacked. Once again, Teal managed to block all of them with relative ease, sneaking in a few slash attacks that slowly wore Saaya down.

“Just accept it. You're going to die,” teased Teal, “and following you... will be your friends.”

“No!” 

Saaya leapt forward for a double strike, but Teal slashed her chest before she could even touch her. She fell to the ground with an unceremonious thump.

Everything hurts. From her throbbing headache, to her aching muscles, and her brittle-feeling bones... they're all screaming in pain, but Saaya refused to hear them. Not now. She's not going to fall now.

“Now, then. Say good night, Saaya.” 

Teal raised their sword for one last strike... but that never came. Saaya glanced up to see...

“Jun?! Sana?!”

Her siblings pushed Teal away, who seemed to me more shocked than anything.

“We won't let you touch her!” Sana yelled, her and Jun's tiny posture standing between Saaya and Voidger Teal.

“Cursed kids...” grunted Teal. “Get out of my way!”

The Voidger shoved the two, knocking them away with ease.

“No!!” shouted Saaya. No. She can't stand this anymore. Hurt her all they want, but lay a finger on her siblings?

Saaya suddenly leapt forward ferociously, landing her batons straight into Teal's chest and knocking them away. It's as if the rage she felt turned into power, boiling within herself.

Fortunately, her siblings looked fine, if not a bit shaken.

“Sana! Jun! Get back inside!” urged Saaya. 

The two siblings nodded, retreating without complain. “Go get 'em, Yellow Ranger!” they shouted together.

“What's this...? Your second wind, or a dying gasp?” Teal tilted their head, appearing to be mildly amused. “Either way... don't think you'll be able to defeat me!”

“Shut up!” roared Saaya. “You dared... to hurt my siblings... I... I won't forgive you!!”

Saaya merged her two batons into one long staff, then raised her left arm to the sky.

“Weapon Call: **Golden Aegis**!”

A round, golden plate shield emerged in her hand. She immediately tossed it forward like a frisbee towards Teal, who barely managed to deflect it back to the sender. However, Saaya swung her staff towards the flying shield, hurling it back with an even faster speed. Teal was knocked back by the shield attack, as it bounced to Saaya again— whom relentlessly bounced it back to Teal again, and again, and again, repeatedly like a pinball going back and forth.

Eventually, Saaya caught her shield as Voidger Teal keeled on the ground, writhing in pain.

“How...?! What is this power?!” they spat.

“Huh? Teal, I thought ya had this one handled?”

Suddenly, the remaining Voidgers emerged from their black flames.

“Yeah, seriously...” mocked Voidger Peach. “You said this was going to be easy, that you didn't need our help.”

“I didn't expect her to be this strong,” cursed Teal, getting back up to their feet. “Well... now that we're together, this is a surefire victory.”

“If I were you, I wouldn't be so confident!” 

Ran arrived on the scene, and so did the other Poppinrangers. They're all ready to help.

Teal clicked their tongue. “This isn't going to plan,” they hissed.

Scarlet cracked their knuckles. “So? Are we going to lay a beatdown on them or what?”

“No, I guess not now,” said Teal. “If we're going to treat all of them as the main entree, then we best to serve them at the right time.”

“Huuh, and you made us pop up for nothing,” complained Peach. “I could've spent the time searching for OOTDs, y'know...”

“Hey, stop running away!”

“Eheheh, sorry to disappoint. But we'll see you all next time.”

The black flames swallowed them whole... and they disappeared without a trace again.

At least... the battle's over. 

As if right on cue, Saaya could feel the fatigue returning to her. Her Ranger suit suddenly faded away, before she collapsed to the ground.

“H—hey! Saaya!” 

Kasumi held Saaya's shoulders and supported her to stand as they returned to their human forms. 

Fortunately, Saaya was still conscious.

“I think... I just need some rest,” she croaked weakly. 

“W—waaaah! Saaya, I was so worried—!” Kasumi wailed. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around Saaya and pulled her into an embrace, while still drenched in tears. 

“Me too! I want to comfort Saaya too!” said Tae cheerfully, hugging both Kasumi and Saaya.

“I want to join too!” Rimi chirped, turning to Arisa. “Let's give Saaya-chan a hug!”

“Geh—?! Me?!” 

Arisa showed some hesitation at first, but she eventually gave up. Both of them joined in on the group hug.

“Ahaha— guys, you don't have to hug me so tightly,” Saaya beamed happily, as Popipa continued to engage on their group hug.

On the other hand, Ran watched them with absolute delight. “You guys really are inseparable, huh...?” she muttered.

Noticing Ran being left out, Saaya called her. “Ran! Come join in!”

Immediately, Ran turned into a flustered mess. “U—uh, no thanks. You're all Popipa, after all...”

“What are you talking about? This is a Poppinrangers group hug!” Kasumi chirped, before forcefully pulling Ran in.

“O—oi! Kasumi, stop! I said no!”

Despite her refusal, Ran ended up in the huddle anyway. The forces that will stop Lord Kaibuzu, unified.


	12. The Blue Roses' Prideful Encore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roselia's live performance has a few uninvited guests! How will the Poppinrangers stop them?

Summer couldn't have made its presence more pronounced. The hot rays of sunlight blared from the cloudless skies, the bustling crowd of people wearing thinner clothes... and an upsurge of popsicle stands.

“Mmm! So good!”

Kasumi licked and bit her watermelon-flavored popsicle, walking along with her four bandmates after a busy school day.

“So sweet and refreshing...” Rimi agreed, taking a chunk off her own strawberry popsicle.

“Saaya, you just recovered. You really shouldn't eat that...” Arisa reprimanded, watching her friend with great concern. 

Saaya just laughed it off, taking a lick off her lemon popsicle. “Just one, Arisa. Just one!”

ㅤㅤㅤ _“Kokoro yurashi maku ga hiraku kimi no koe de~”_

The song suddenly rang from Tae's pocket. She pulled out her phone... and immediately gasped.

“Oh, no!” she cried after licking her watermelon popsicle, “it's my alarm! Time to feed my rabbits!”

“Ah! Then we have to go quick!” Kasumi gasped, pretty much readying herself to run. 

Tae, however, reverted back to her neutral expression. “That's fine. I can text my mom about it.”

“Huh... and you made us freak out for nothing,” Arisa commented, a wry smile on her lips.

“Heeey! Popipa!”

The figure of Imai Lisa emerged before them, as she jogged towards the five.

“Lisa-san...?” 

“Hey there!” Lisa waved at them and smiled, before running her hand through her bag. “I have something for all of you, right... here!”

The bassist handed out five sheets of tickets, with details of Roselia's latest concert.

“Uwah! Free tickets to a Roselia Live!” Kasumi beamed, as the five took their tickets.

“We realized we haven't performed much since Future World Fes... and with all the things happening right now, we think it's the right time.” 

Arisa read the contents of the ticket carefully. “At Dub... this Saturday, 7 PM?” 

“Mhm!” Lisa nodded swiftly. “Think of them as treats for all of you!”

Kasumi grinned. “Got it! Thank you, Lisa-san!” 

“Well, then! I'll be off. Be seeing all of you soon!”

As soon as she arrived, Lisa departed, leaving the five to themselves as they continued their walk home.

* * *

The day of Roselia's Live finally arrived. While Popipa had to handle a few more Buzz sightings to get to this day, they could finally kick back and relax, enjoying Roselia's dazzling music.

They had arrived at Dub earlier than scheduled, but the entrance looked packed already. No surprises there— Roselia has always been a top-of-the-line band with plenty of fans, and their performance at FWF only boosted their popularity further. 

Still, the five managed to slip into Dub Livehouse with their tickets, waiting for the gates to be open. 

“Man... Roselia always gets my heart pumping,” muttered Kasumi in excitement.

“They haven't even performed yet, you dolt,” scolded Arisa.

“Eeeh?! Dolt?! Is that... like a doll?”

“Oh! It must be a new doll breed!” Tae chimed in.

Groaning loudly, Arisa facepalmed. “You two are helpless...”

“Oh, you guys.”

They all turned to see Afterglow, waving at them with delight.

“Ah, Afterglow! Here for the show too?” asked Kasumi.

“Yuh-huh~” Moca nodded, her tone of voice as dreamy as always. “Ran was especially raring to go... aren't you, Ran?”

“You don't have to bring that up,” muttered Ran, her face turning slightly pink.

“Ah, that reminds me!” Tomoe spoke, her gaze suspended to the ceiling. “You've been seen a lot with Popipa too lately, Ran. What's up with that?”

For a moment, neither Ran nor the Popipa members knew how to react. How could they dodge this question without telling the truth? 

Finally, Arisa broke the silence. “Uh... Ran said that she'll be helping us with things to make up for our canceled joint Live.” 

“Eh? Without us?” Himari gasped, her eyes widened slightly. “Ran, we could've helped too, y'know!”

Ran tried to play along, deciding not to make eye contact with any of them. “Y—yeah... but I figured you guys are busy, so I covered for all of you.”

“Ran is leaving us behind again? You're mean~” moaned Moca, though the way she said it was more of a joke than anything. 

Tomoe, on the other hand, looked a little more serious. “Yeah, honestly... don't bottle stuff to yourself!” 

As Afterglow proceeded with their light bickering, Saaya noticed something with their fifth member— their keyboardist. 

Tsugumi, who's usually very animated and cheerful... now looked anxious and wary. Her empty gaze seemed to lead nowhere, and she's constantly fidgeting. Also, is it just her, or are those dark spots under her eyes? To Saaya, Tsugumi looked like she hadn't slept for ages.

“Tsugumi?” she decided to call her. “You okay?”

It's as if those words jolted her back to reality, because Tsugumi immediately turned nervously.

“Oh~ gates are open!”

But before any of them could say a word, Moca pointed out the obvious. They headed off to the concert stage, which was all equipped with moody blue lights and Roselia's stylistic ornaments. Speaking of which...

The five band members stood on the stage, as collected as usual. Their strong bonds could be felt even before they performed. Yukina didn't need to do any introductions— no words are even necessary. She only uttered what she had to;

“Determination Symphony.”

And the crowd goes nuts.

* * *

“Heart-pounding... that was so heart-pounding!”

The five walked out from the venue with extreme jubilation. That was a sensory bliss.

“I still have chills...!” said Rimi.

They set out to meet up with the members later, who are still busy thanking the other audiences there.

“Thinking about it makes me want to perform even more,” Tae spoke, perching her chin on her fingers.

“Yeah!” Kasumi agreed. “We never really had a chance to get back to that, haven't we?”

Cackling, Saaya patted Kasumi on the back. “Let's all talk about it soon, okay? I'm itching for it, too.”

“Itching?” Tae tilted her head. “Where? On the back?”

“That's not what she meant!” yelled Arisa.

The meetup line was starting to thin out, thus the five decided to approach them. However...

“WAAAAH!”

“HEEEEELP! MONSTER!”

“Don't tell me...!”

Their fears immediately came true. A Buzz came striding into Dub, scattering all of the crowd inside. 

“A... giant microphone?” muttered Saaya, squinting her eyes. She wasn't wrong— the Buzz was shaped like a man-sized mic with arms and legs protruding from its sides.

“Everyone, let's go!” Kasumi commanded, and the others followed. “ **Miracle Change!** ”

Transformed into Poppinrangers, Rimi and Arisa evacuated most of the crowd inside— including the Roselia members —while the remaining three faced this man-sized mic.

Kasumi charged forward first, her fist raised high. However... 

“What?!”

The Buzz emitted an ear-grating static, and Kasumi stopped at once. 

“Kasumi?!” Saaya shouted. 

“I... can't move...!”

It was as if Kasumi was frozen in place, her muscles locked in place as the static continued... and when it stopped, a figure swooped in and slashed Kasumi straight in the chest, knocking her down.

“Well, well, well! The Poppinrangers are here,” said Voidger Teal, with the rest flanking them on their sides. “Didn't expect you to be Roselia fans, but I digress.”

“Voidgers!” barked Tae. “What do you all want?!”

“We toldcha' already! We're tasked to pummel ya to the ground,” replied Voidger Scarlet, cracking their knuckles.

“Cavalry's arrived!”

Arisa and Rimi returned, along with Ran. With Kasumi getting back to her feet, all six of them stood against the five Lord Kaibuzu underlings.

“Good, they've all shown up!” Voidger Peach giggled. “We can pounce them all up at once.”

“Not if we beat you all first!” Kasumi declared. “Our sparkling and heart-pounding feeling is going to stop you tonight!”

“Come, then!” Teal beckoned them closer. “Bon appetit.”

Within seconds, the two opposing forces immediately collided with each other. Kasumi and Ran both dealt with Teal and the Buzz, Saaya brawled with Scarlet, Arisa and Tae fought against Peach, while Rimi and Canary threw down a fight themselves.

Kasumi swung her axe towards Teal, followed with a quick sword slash from Ran. The three clashed blades against each other, but Teal seemed to be on the back foot.

“Let's finish this, Crimson!”

“Yeah!”

Kasumi strummed her axe, while Ran activated Element Fire. The two charged a combined slash wave at once.

“Don't get too cocky!”

However, as Teal shouted so, that ear-grating static rang through the room again. 

“Not again!”

Kasumi and Ran both froze in place— but not only that, so did the other Poppinrangers. 

“Good job, **Dissonance Buzz**!” praised Teal, before they swooped in with a swift slash. Kasumi and Ran was sent flying back through the lounge.

“Red! Crimson!” shouted Saaya, but she had other problems to deal with. Stunned by the static, she recieved a roundhouse that sends her head crashing into the floor. The others also received similar beatdowns after getting paralyzed.

“Crap... if we don't stop that Buzz, we won't be able to land a hit on them!” groaned Ran.

“We have to focus on it, then!” said Kasumi, firing a barrage of blasts from her palm towards Dissonance Buzz. They're immediately deflected by Teal, however.

“You'd think it'll be that easy, huh? Think again.”

The static began to play again, and the Poppinrangers are powerless to stop the beating they received. Teal charged forward and knocked both Ran and Kasumi down with two slashes, readying themselves to finish their foes off.

Meanwhile, Tae and Arisa had to endure blasts after blasts sent their way, as they're unable to dodge or block them. The two fell to the ground, writhing in pain as Peach stood before them.

Suddenly...

ㅤㅤㅤ _“Kokoro yurashi maku ga hiraku kimi no koe de~”_

From her bag, Tae's cellphone suddenly rang... and the Buzz suddenly wailed in pain, stopping the static in the process.

“Ah, bunny feeding time!” said Tae.

“Couldn't you wait until we get out of this alive?!” yelled Arisa.

“Hmph! What a joke,” Peach groaned, blasting Tae's bag away and muting the phone.

“Wait... that's it!” muttered Saaya. “The music... the opposite of dissonance is—”

“Hey, hey! Don't go actin' smart on me!”

Scarlet threw a punch towards Saaya, but she managed to slip under it and landed her fist on their gut. She then immediately turned towards Ran.

“Crimson! Distraction!” she shouted.

“Hope you know what you're doing, Yellow!” Ran replied. “ **Element Wind**!”

With a stroke of her saber, Ran created a dusty tornado to obscure everyone's vision, giving Saaya time to run away from Dub's lounge, into the outskirts.

Surprisingly, there are still a lot of people gathered outside, seemingly wanting to watch the ensuing battle. Some of those people are...

“Roselia!”

Saaya ran towards the five, who still stood their ground. Ako lets out a minor squeal when she saw her close in upon them.

“This is really strange, but I have a request for all of you,” she spoke.

Yukina stared directly into Saaya's black visor, as the other four threw glances at each other. “What is it?”

“I need you... to perform again!”

* * *

Meanwhile, back inside Dub, the fight continues.

“Your friend's running away like a coward?” mocked Teal. “I guess you Poppinrangers aren't so courageous as they make it out to be.”

“She's not running! We believe in her!” Kasumi howled, her axe clashed with Teal's sword. “We're... going to stop you, no matter what!”

“Charming,” said Teal.

“But true!” 

Ran swooped in to the action, whipping a slash on Teal's belly. It sent them reeling back.

“Like I said... don't get cocky!” Teal cursed. The Buzz emitted another static, paralyzing the five Rangers again. This time, the Voidgers didn't mess around— they all sent powerful attacks towards their foes, blasting them into the stage venue.

“Now, give it up! Your last course has been served!” said Teal, approaching their downed foes.

“You're wrong!”

Saaya stepped in, standing between the Poppinrangers and the Voidgers.

And then... the lights dimmed and turned blue in hue, as footsteps can be heard from the stage. Everyone turned, to see Roselia back on top of their stage, ready with their instruments.

“This is our encore. Our song... to burn the courage of those who soar and fight for the greater good,” declared Yukina with ice-cold composure. “FIRE BIRD.”

“What's this...?!” Peach stammered.

With the keys accompanying her, Yukina started to sing.

> _Sora ga donna takakute mo,_
> 
> _hane ga chigirechitte mo._
> 
> _Tobitatsu koto osorezu ni,_
> 
> _kogase fushinaru kizuna!_
> 
> _Fly to the sky... Fire bird!_

“Blaze a path towards your unending dream!”

The instruments started playing their first phrase, Roselia's prideful sound rang through the venue. The Poppinrangers stood up... and noticed that the Buzz is now keeling on the ground.

“I knew it!” Saaya beamed. “The Buzz spreads dissonance, so the only way to counteract that is harmony... music!”

“Good work, Yellow!” Kasumi patted her on the back.

“Curses... then we'll just stop the music!” roared Teal, sending a blast towards Roselia. However, Arisa raised her hand in the nick of time, encasing the band in a protective barrier.

“No can do. Let's finish this!”

The six Poppinrangers charged forward, now free from their restraints. 

> _Tobe yo hōyoku no vaioretto,_
> 
> _hi no tori no yō ni!_
> 
> _We are... nando mo utai,_
> 
> _tsuyoku natta yume wa makenai!_

“Beat the Buzz down first!” Ran shouted, slashing the air to cast forth another blinding tornado. The other Rangers took this chance— Saaya lunged and bodychecked Scarlet down, Arisa used her Green Grappler to trip Peach, Rimi blasted Canary off, and Tae landed a powerful kick that sends Teal flying to the roof.

> _Anata wo tsurete ikitai nda,_
> 
> _zessei no ten e!_
> 
> _Zero kyori de dakishimeai!_
> 
> _Shinwa ni shirusō!_

Kasumi leapt as high as she could, her axe raised. She pounced the downed Buzz in one clear strike.

> _Kono oto no kaze de!_
> 
> _Soshite shin sekai e!_

The Buzz exploded within seconds, leaving no trace whatsoever. Meanwhile, the Voidgers scrambled back on their feet, clearly losing.

“Damn you...! Next time!” 

The four shrouded themselves with black flames and disappeared again.

> _Burning up! Burning up!_
> 
> _Lala, lalala, lala, lalala..._
> 
> _Lala, lalala, lala, lalala!_

* * *

“Thanks for the help!”

The six Poppinrangers bowed their heads towards Roselia.

Lisa chuckled. “Don't mention it! If anything, you guys are the ones who deserve all the thanks here!”

Ako, on the other hand, is in cloud nine. “Uwoooh! I just helped the super cool Poppinrangers! RinRin, this is super duper ultra cool!” 

Rinko gave a curt nod and smiled. “Yeah... it was nice to help... after all you've done...”

“I've heard things about you from my sister... I guess she wasn't exaggerating it this time,” said Sayo, curling a soft smile as well. “Thank you for all of your hard work, Poppinrangers.”

The six glanced at each other, once again smiling behind their helmets. That feeling of happiness can never be rivaled.

Yukina, however... still looked stern. Her golden eyes stared directly towards Kasumi, as if trying to pry her open.

“...Yukina? What's wrong?” asked Lisa, who also noticed her funny looks.

Yukina leant closer towards Kasumi. “Have we... met before?” she asked, both curiously and also somewhat threateningly.

“A—ah! No, de—definitely not! I'm a stranger here, hahaha! I only know you from concerts!” Kasumi stammered. It's rare for her to have a panic, but the stress of keeping her identity secret got to her. 

Yukina looked satisfied, but not entirely so. She pointed at Ran. “And you? Have we met before?”

Now it's Ran's turn to panic— and it's even harder to keep up the face when the person in front of her is her rival. “U—uhm, no... no, also not...! I'm, uh, I'm not from around here...”

Thankfully, that seemed to be enough, as she cracked a small smile.

“Well... either way, thank you. I do not know much about things other than music, so we will leave the monsters to you,” said Yukina. “We will continue to support you in the way we know best... with our music.”

“Ah... yes! Will do!” Kasumi nodded firmly. “Put your faith in us!”


	13. Hazardous Battle! Poppinranger vs. Voidger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discovering a potential lead on their enemies, the Poppinrangers found themselves in a crisis as their foes reveal their true strength.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're in the endgame™ now.

“Incompetent fools!”

Somewhere in a dimly lit building, a tall figure covered in a dark cloak stomped the floor where he stood— breaking it down in the process. Before him, the four Voidgers kneeled, their heads lowered.

“W—we're sorry, Lord Kaibuzu! We will do better next time! Please... please forgive us!” begged Voidger Teal.

“There won't be any more "next time"!” roared Lord Kaibuzu, clenching his fist. “It looks like I have underestimated the power of the Miracle Crystals... I will no longer make the same mistake again.”

“Wait, does this mean—”

“Yes. I shall begin my conquest on Earth!”

“My Lord, I think it's too soon for that.”

The woman in the maid outfit suddenly stepped in, directly facing the Lord.

“Give the Voidgers one more chance to fight by themselves.”

“Bah! They've failed time and again, and you still believe in them?!” spat Lord Kaibuzu. “You and your experiments... they're wasting my time!”

“This time it will be different,” replied the woman, remaining collected even at the face of her master. “I shall deactivate their Hazard Limiters. They will finally be able to use the full power of their Miracle Crystals.”

Lord Kaibuzu fell silent for a moment, his gaze directed towards the Voidgers.

“...fine. One more chance, and then I'll commence my attack,” he finally said.

The maiden bowed. “I will not fail you, My Lord.”

* * *

A stream of fire blazed through the sky like a fighter jet, leaving a fiery trail behind. On its rear, an actual fighter jet gave chase.

Obviously, Kasumi never piloted a plane before, but riding her red Doki-Doki Jetbuster somehow felt like second nature. Just like her ability to fight, this seems to stem from her Miracle Crystal.

“Get back here, **Heat Buzz**!”

A figure stands on top of the Jetbuster, her katana raised high. Either due to recklessness or lack of other options, Ran thought that this was the best idea.

Heat Buzz briefly turned to see the incoming jetplane. “Persistent jerks!” it roared, before shooting a few fireballs towards the Jetbuster.

“Red!”

“Hang on!”

Kasumi swerved and swirled through the fireballs, not reducing the speed. Ran had to cling onto the cockpit by the maneuvers, standing back up when they're getting closer.

“ **Element Water**!”

Ran tapped the blue crystal on her sword's hilt, creating a water bubble that surrounds the blade.

“This clinches it!”

With one slash, Ran launched a wave of water towards Heat Buzz, exploding it upon contact.

“Nice hit, Crimson!” complemented Kasumi. Ran withdrew her blade, before noticing something falling from where Heat Buzz just exploded...

“Red, I think I see something falling,” she said. “Get us down.”

“Alright!”

Kasumi slowly made her descent, Ran perching on top of the plane. Once they're low enough, Ran leapt off from the plane and into the ground and started looking for that fallen object. It took her a while... but eventually, she found a black, tablet-shaped object that the Heat Buzz dropped.

“What on Earth...?”

* * *

The six Poppinrangers are now waiting inside the white control room in CiRCLE while Kris took their time analyzing the tablet, placed on top of a pedestal at the center of the room.

“Is it done?” asked Kasumi eagerly, peering from behind Kris. Arisa pulled her back immediately.

“That's the third time you asked!” she scolded her.

“Wait a moment, girls!” said Kris, thinkering around with the computer. “Alright... there!”

A paragraph of text appeared from the screens on the walls.

“I knew it! This tablet contains data with encryption used by the Buzz Force.”

They all then turned and read what's on the screen.

> _PENULTIMATE ASSAULT_
> 
> _GATHER_
> 
> _**X:** -16.8158_
> 
> _**Y:** 158.03604_
> 
> _1500 HOURS_
> 
> _PRESENCE IS MANDATORY_

“Penultimate... assault?” muttered Rimi, all of them turning to each other. “And are those... coordinates?”

“Sounds like Lord Kaibuzu is not playing around anymore,” Ran grimly spoke.

Pacing back and forth, Arisa pinched her chin. “But now we know where they're gathering. We can stop them then and there.”

“Yeah!” Kasumi agreed. “We have the upper hand, we can't waste it!”

“Then it's settled,” Ran folded her arms and nodded, a firm finality in her voice. “Kris, start looking for where the coordinates point towards.”

“Aye!” Kris immediately went into action. “The rest of you can start prepping up!”

The Rangers began to disperse, either looking at Kris doing their analysis or heading back upstairs to get some refreshments. Amidst all of the bustling business, Saaya bowed her head and heaved a sigh. She looked distressed— catching Tae's attention.

“Saaya?” she called, tapping her shoulder. “You look worried.”

Forcing a smile, Saaya raised her head and turned to her friend. “It's nothing! Just... I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Typical of you to worry a lot, huh?”

Saaya laughed bitterly. “You know me. But... I feel like this is more than a hunch.”

Tae cracked a smile. “Nothing we can do about it, though. Even if there's something that goes wrong, we can handle it,” she said with a quietly strong optimism, Saaya was rather caught off guard by it.

“I guess you're right,” she replied, returning the smile. “Well, let's just do our best, like usual!”

Tae nodded a few times as a response, before Kris alerted them to come.

“Look, look! I've found where it is!”

* * *

The six Poppinrangers arrived at where the gathering was supposed to take place— in an abandoned parking basement, sandwiched between two old and dilapidated buildings.

“Yep, this place really screams "evil hideout",” commented Arisa, as they got closer into the tollgates. It snapped in half already, so they could get into the basement easily.

“We have to get in transformed, or they might catch us off guard,” advised Ran.

“Good idea! Let's go, everyone!”

“ **Miracle Change!** ”

“ **Revenge Change!** ”

The six of them raised their Riser bracelets high, transforming into their Ranger forms. They then proceeded deeper through the basement, which was poorly lit by either the light outside or the dimmed lamps inside.

“Where are they...?”

The group went deeper and deeper into the basement, throwing occasional glances to their surroundings. No sound can be heard, apart from their footsteps echoing through the chambers. It's quiet... too quiet.

Then, all of a sudden, they all saw a flash of light.

“Watch out!”

Kasumi leapt away as a streak of light zoomed past her, crashing into a pillar and exploding within contact. Before they could even comprehend what's going on, the four Voidgers emerged and stood on four sides, preventing them from escaping.

“The plan worked!” Voidger Scarlet spoke triumphantly. “Hah, what a bunch of idiots!”

“What...?!” barked Ran through gritted teeth.

“You fell for the trap we lay, and now we have you cornered,” said Voidger Teal, folding their arms. “It's as simple as that.”

Kasumi gasped. “That tablet... was a trap?!”

“Exactly!” Voidger Peach laughed. “Can't believe you'd be so dumb to fall for that!”

“Now, for the last part of the plan... we're going to end all of your lives here!” declared Teal, pointing towards the six.

“You're short on two people if you wish to do that,” Arisa hissed back. “And don't think we're going down easily!”

Peach was unable to control their laughter again, howling manically. “You losers really think you have a chance?!”

“Heh. Let's end this quickly, everyone,” said Teal, as the four stepped forward and raised their right hand, showing black Risers with color-coded crystals on the center.

Wait. Black Risers?

“ **Limiters off! Hazard Mode, on!** ”

The Voidgers all shouted in unison. Their crystals began to light brightly, followed with their visors. Surges of black electricity continuously shrouding their bodies as their outfits began emitting clouds of white smoke.

“Limiters...?” Saaya muttered. Looks like her worries were justified...

“Heh, that's right! We've been fightin' ya with limited power this entire time!” Scarlet pumped their fists together. “Now you'll see what happens when we mean business!”

The Voidgers charged at once, storming towards the Poppinrangers. Teal immediately called forth their Void Saber and swooped it towards Ran. She blocked it in the nick of time, summoning her own blade at the last second. Kasumi stepped in with her axe... but Teal landed a kick on her gut before she could even touch them, followed with a powerful roundhouse towards Ran. The two red Rangers fell down at once as Teal leapt and raised their sword, about to pounce Ran— whom fortunately managed to roll away before the attack connects.

Elsewhere, Rimi and Voidger Canary hurled energy blasts at each other, dodging and curling between the strikes as they went. Canary fired a particularly large energy blast which Rimi managed to dodge, but the explosion it caused was so massive that it blew her away. Getting back up at once, Rimi immediately saw Canary charging for another gigantic energy blast.

“Weapon Call: **Michelle Armor**!”

A pink chestplate with a hump and two cannons on the shoulders emerged on Rimi's torso. She immediately blasted off to the air, charging up her twin cannons and firing a stream of energy beam towards Canary, who launched their own energy blast as a response. The two blasts collided for a moment... before Canary's blast overwhelmed Rimi's and absorbed it, charging straight towards her and exploding. Rimi fell unceremoniously to the ground, struggling to stand as Canary prepared to continue their onslaught... which is interrupted by Saaya, as she flew onto a wall, crashing with a deafening crack.

Scarlet didn't let her take a break. They ran towards Saaya before she could even stand up, their fist raised high.

Saaya clicked her tongue, resisting the urge to curse. “Weapon Call: **Golden Aegis**!”

Calling forth her round shield, Saaya immediately tossed it like a frisbee. The Aegis blazed through the air in extreme speeds towards Scarlet... but they managed to shove it aside with their hand.

“Deflected?!”

Scarlet leapt to the air to land a fiery flying kick, one that Saaya managed to roll away from before colliding. She took this moment to try and land a punch, but Scarlet was too quick for her. They deflected her punch and judo tossed her to the ground so hard, it left a crater on the floor.

“ **Rabbit Kick!** ”

Out of nowhere, Tae landed a double flying kick onto Scarlet's head, knocking them off balance.

“You're fighting me!” yelled Peach, as they threw an energy blast towards Tae from afar. However, Arisa managed to arrive just in time, conjuring a barrier around Tae to block the blasts.

“ **Speed Mode!** ”

Tae took this moment to zip towards Scarlet in the speed of sound, whom just recovered from that kick. However, Scarlet managed to catch her in the middle of her run, grabbing her face and slamming it into the wall multiple times, before tossing her body aside.

Meanwhile, Arisa had to engage with Peach. They fired blasts off each other, as Arisa tried to close their distances.

“Weapon Call: **Green Grappler**!”

Once she's within range, Arisa wrapped Peach with her whip, locking the Voidger in place. In spite of that, Peach managed to pull her arms out from the wrap and tugged the whip. Arisa was overwhelmed by their strength and got pulled in herself, as Peach used the whip to fling her to the ceiling before slamming her to the ground.

“Arisa!”

Kasumi ran as fast as she could to help her, but Teal suddenly emerged from her back and landed a sword slash, sending her plummeting to the floor.

“Damn you!” Ran yelled, thrusting her sword towards Teal, but they managed to deflect it and countered with an electric-charged slash. It was so powerful that Ran was knocked out from her transformation, returning to her human form.

“Ran-chan...!” Kasumi whimpered, crawling towards Teal and grabbing their leg as a desperate attempt to stop them. Teal just shoved her aside and shocked her with their sword. Her body no longer able to sustain it, Kasumi's transformation was cancelled too.

“This power... it feels great!” Teal clenched their fist triumphantly, standing above their two fallen foes. The other Poppinrangers are knocked down too, their Ranger outfits dispersing as they couldn't maintain the transformation with their injuries.

“Now then, let's start the buffet, shall we? We can start with you, Ran.”

Teal grabbed Ran on the neck and picked her powerless body up. Although struggling to maintain her consciousness, Ran defiantly struggled to break free, much to the amusement of the Voidgers.

“Struggling to the very end... you're the same as always. Aren't you, Ran?” mocked Peach.

“Sh—shut... up...!” Ran spoked through strained breaths as the chokehold clogged her windpipe. “Snap... out of it... please...!”

Those words seemed to irk Teal, because they intensified the hold, Ran struggling to breath. “How about I'll shut you up? One last time?”

Teal raised their sword on their other hand, about to strike.

“Ngh... argh!!”

But the following whimpers didn't came from Ran.

Canary, who stood before an unconscious Rimi, suddenly knelt down in agony. The electric surges around her body came in an increasing intensity, and the smoke excreting from her outfit grew thicker and thicker.

“Canary?!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!”

Teal dropped Ran's body to the ground, watching Canary screamed in agony, the black jolts began damaging them. The other Poppinrangers could only imagine how painful it felt as they watched— the howls they heard sent chills on their spines. Also, the pain seems to slowly break their distorted voice... revealing a girl's voice within.

The electric shock stopped as abruptly as it had started. Canary's Voidger suit slowly faded away, revealing a figure beneath it... and made the Poppinrangers' eyes bulge in shock.

“Tsugumi...?!”


	14. An Afterglow to Reunite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Poppinrangers learned the hard truth about the Voidgers, Ran decided to do something reckless...

“Tsugu...?”

Teal's grasp laxed as they took a step back, as if something just smacked the back of their head. Ran fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath.

Then... before they knew it, the Voidgers vanished with their black flames.

Despite barely able to stand herself, Ran dashed towards the unconscious Tsugumi, the others limped to follow. She picked her body up and shook her.

“Tsugumi?! Tsugumi!”

Violently, Ran shook her body. She could see her chest steadily rising and lowering... good, at least she's breathing.

As Tae and Arisa tended Rimi, Kasumi and Saaya sat by Ran's side, glancing down at Tsugumi's limp figure.

“Why...? Why would it be Tsugumi-chan...?” muttered Kasumi. 

Saaya pursed her lips, a morbid expression decorating her exhausted visage. “Does that mean... the other Voidgers are...?”

“No doubt about it,” Ran spoke, trying to maintain the stability of her voice as she swallowed the bitter truth before her. “They're... Moca, Tomoe, and Himari. They're all... Voidgers.”

Kasumi gasped, while Saaya placed her hand on Ran's shoulder, gripping it tightly.

“You've... suspected them, didn't you?” asked Saaya. “That's why you told them to snap out of it...”

“I wished they weren't...” Ran gritted her teeth, slamming her fist into the floor. “Dammit! Why...? Why are they doing this?!”

Nobody answered. Nobody knew the answer. How would they? They couldn't even begin to wrap their heads around the fact that their friends are working with the person threatening the existence of this world. That's preposterous, in every sense of the word.

“Girls! Hey, girls!”

A rumble of footsteps, and the figure of Marina came into the scene. The five girls immediately stood up and turned.

“Marina-sa—”

Kasumi tried to greet her cheerfully, but her sore muscles made her wince. Marina patted and checked all over her body, concern painted bare on her face.

“Geez... you girls really got a beating,” she muttered. 

“Wouldn't be the first time,” Arisa huffed, folding her arms.

“Well— either way, we're going to have to treat you up. Follow me to the car... and don't forget bring your friends too.”

Arisa and Saaya moved to support Rimi's body, who's still unconscious. Meanwhile, Kasumi approached Ran to help her with Tsugumi, but...

“No.”

Ran shrugged Kasumi off, a scathing bitterness in her voice.

“Let me do this myself. Please,” she continued, not even waiting for an answer as she strode off with Tsugumi perched on her back, her arms rounded on her neck.

“Ran-chan...” 

Kasumi watched as the others began to depart, heaving a sigh. She then followed them... before her feet knocked something over. Glancing down to see what it was, Kasumi furrowed her brows.

“This is...?”

She reached down towards the object and picked it up. It was a black bracelet with a small, round crystal on one of its sides, which appeared to be cracked.

“Tsugumi-chan's... Riser?” she deduced. “I better bring it to Kris!”

* * *

“Very interesting...”

Back at the white control room in CiRCLE, Kasumi, Tae and Arisa watched Kris fiddled around with the broken black Riser. They're pretty much covered in bandages, just having their wounds treated beforehand.

The room's metal door slid open, and the three girls turned to see Saaya entering the room, followed with...

“Rimi-rin!”

Rimi curled a small smile, seemingly getting her bearings back after what happened earlier. The five of them then gathered close towards Kris, continuing their observation.

“It appears that this shares a lot of similarities with Ran's Riser... I'd go as far as to say that this is the same as hers... with a few differences,” they explained.

“Same as Ran's?” Saaya tilted her head. “Does that mean... it came from the maid woman she spoke of before?”

“Can't say for certain...”

“What are the differences?” asked Tae.

“Oh, the most notable one is this module here,” Kris directed their attention to the screen showing a model of the Riser, zoomed in to the part under the Crystal. There was small chip planted there, hidden amidst the Riser's engravings.

“I can't draw conclusions yet... but I'm certain that this module connects to the neural network,” explained Kris. “In other words, this thing controls the user's brain.”

“W—wait,” Arisa stammered once she pieced it together, “so that means... they're being mind-controlled this entire time?!”

“That appears to be the case...”

Silence followed, as they sank into the grim reality. Their friends were... mind-controlled?

“H—how can we break them free?!” Kasumi asked promply, urgency ringing from her voice.

Kris' screen displayed a frown. “Simply destroying the Riser should do the trick... but that's easier than done, isn't it?”

“That's true...” mumbled Saaya, before something came to her mind. “Kris... do you know anything about their "Hazard Mode"?”

“Mhm, yeah...” Kris huffed, looking as if they didn't want to explain it. “I didn't want to talk about it when I found it in Ran's Riser... but basically, hers and this Riser can't fully utilize the Crystal's full potential— even though Ran's Crystal was already very strong —because the material that this Riser is made of can't contain it.”

“The limiters...” 

“Yup. They had to put limiters to reduce the Crystal's powers. But, if they turn them off, they will be able to force that full potential out from the Crystal... with some repercussions.”

“Repercussions...?” repeated Rimi, her eyes widening at once.

“Yes. You saw what happened to that Tsugumi girl— she used too much of the Crystal's power that her Riser broke apart, and the power began hurting her instead.”

Kasumi gulped. “So if we don't stop the others fast... they would be hurt too?! We gotta act fast!” 

“Wait a sec, Kasumi!” shouted Arisa, pulling her forearm. “You've seen how powerful they are— we didn't have a chance back then, and we certainly don't now!”

Tugging her grip by force, Kasumi looked stern. “You can't expect me to sit around and do nothing! They're our friends!”

“B—but Kasumi... you wouldn't be able to change anything,” Saaya urged her, “you're not even fully healed yet!”

“I'm not going to let that stop me!” Kasumi fiercely insisted. “We can't leave our friends behind... we're supposed to protect them! Isn't that what the Poppinrangers supposed to do?!”

_Splat!_

Before she realized it, Arisa's hand flew towards Kasumi's cheek and slapped it. Rimi gasped, while Saaya took a step back.

“You... you moron!” she yelled. “How many times do I have to tell you?! You always insisted on protecting others... but you always forgot about those who want to protect you!”

“Arisa...” muttered Kasumi, rubbing where she had just slapped her. 

Arisa looked away, her fists clenched tight. “I... I want to protect you... I don't want you to be hurt... everyone does!”

Nodding, Tae looked stern. “I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you're hurt, Kasumi.” 

“Neither do I,” Rimi agreed. “Kasumi-chan, please keep our feelings in mind...”

Saaya patted Kasumi on the shoulder, throwing her a look of concern. “I know it hurts that you can't do anything right now... but sometimes, it's better to wait before you act. Otherwise... you'd just make us sad.”

“Everyone...”

Kasumi's somber gaze fell to the floor, overwhelmed by their feelings. Guilt began to throb within her gut for forgetting something so important.

“Ran-chan! Wait!”

That silence didn't last long, as they suddenly heard loud shouts from above.

“Tsugumi...?”

Without wasting any more time, the five stormed out from the room and into the flight of stairs. Once they're in CiRCLE's lounge, they spotted Tsugumi, now fully awake and positively panicked.

She turned towards the five, catching her breath. “Ran-chan...! Ran-chan!”

“Tsugumi! What's wrong?!” asked Saaya immediately.

“She's... she's going to fight the others... by herself!”

“What?!”

* * *

Ran was running as fast as she could, ignoring her complaining muscles. She had no idea where was she running— but the more she moved, the more she had the chance to encounter them.

No matter what happens... she's going to free them all.

Black flames suddenly emerged from thin air around her. Ran stopped and watched as her three childhood friends stepped out from those flames.

“Moca! Tomoe! Himari!” she shouted. “Snap out of it! You're not yourselves!”

“Those three no longer exist,” replied Moca, not in her usually dreamy tone, but a much more reserved and malicious one. “We're nothing but subservient puppets to Lord Kaibuzu now.”

Her lifeless eyes stared directly at Ran, as she stretched her arms forward— the others following her.

“Wait...! Listen to me!”

“ **Void Change**.”

A black-tinted light shrouded their bodies, before dispersing and revealing them in their Voidger outfits— Moca was Teal, Tomoe was Scarlet, and Himari was Peach. Their bodies are shrouded in electric currents, their suits emitting white smoke.

Moca called her Void Saber, pointing it towards Ran. Gritting her teeth, Ran quickly raised her right arm.

“ **Revenge Change!** ”

Ran transformed herself into Crimson Revenger, calling forth her own Vengeance Saber. “Don't... don't make me do this, please...!” 

But the three didn't listen. They rounded upon Ran, Moca raising her sword and attempted a slash. Ran blocked it, but Tomoe and Himari landed a kick from both sides, knocking her down.

“Weapon Call... **True Warrior's Blade**...!”

As she tumbled backwards, Ran called forth her second sword— a sleek white katana. The three Voidgers charged forward, Ran leapt to the air and raised her Vengeance Saber.

“ **Element Wind!** ”

She thrusted a small dust cyclone towards the three, landing before them as their vision was obscured. However, Tomoe managed to storm through the dusts and lunged at Ran, tackling and pinning her to the ground. Not giving any form of mercy, Tomoe repeatedly punched Ran in the face, locking her between her legs. She finished it off by standing up and tossing Ran's body to the air, as it got shot by Himari's energy blast.

Ran was sent flying off to the distance, crashing into the ground. Moca didn't even gave her a chance to breathe— she already dashed towards Ran again, her sword raised to finish her off.

But that sword never touched Ran. A red figure stepped between them, using the Starry Axe to block the sword attack.

“Kasumi...?!”

Kasumi pushed hard, forcing Moca on her back foot.

“Why?! I've told you... let me do this myself!” roared Ran, as she struggled to her feet. “They're... they're my friends... they need me!”

“They're my friends too!” Kasumi shouted back, still pushing her axe against the sword. “Ran-chan... I understand how you feel! I know you want to protect your friends... but don't forget about the friends who want to protect you too!”

Mustering all of her strength, Kasumi finally managed to break through Moca's sword and knocked her back.

Ran stared at Kasumi, bewildered. “Protect me...?” 

In response, Kasumi turned towards her and nodded. “Yeah! Look!”

She pointed towards the other four Poppinrangers... and Tsugumi, watching over Ran. 

“Ran-chan!” she called, a worried look painted on her visage.

“Tsugumi... everyone...”

The Poppinrangers gathered at once, as the three Voidgers readied themselves to charge again.

“We need to break their Risers,” said Tae firmly.

“That's going to be hard, with how strong they are...” muttered Arisa.

Seemingly coming into a conclusion, Ran suddenly stepped forward.

“You're wrong, Kasumi.”

“Eh?”

Ran raised her right hand, staring towards the Voidgers. Her friends.

“I never forgot about them. I never forgot about you guys. It's just... I think it's my turn to protect everyone now,” she spoke.

Saaya immediately caught wind about what she's about to do. “Wait— Ran... are you trying to—”

Ran briefly looked back at them, smiling under her helmet. “So next time... I'm trusting all of you to do the same.”

She then turned back to her childhood friends.

“ **Limiters off! Hazard Mode, on!** ”

A mechanical whirring sound came from Ran's suit, as it suddenly gleamed brightly and emitted white smoke. Red-tinted electric currents surrounded her body, Ran immediately raised her Vengeance Saber high to the sky.

“ **Element Combine!** ”

The blade began glowing and flashing multiple colors of light. Its aura was so overwhelming that everyone reflectively took a step away from it.

“It's time to take back our "same as always"!” she declared, before zipping towards Tomoe in a flash. Before her foe could do anything, Ran cleaved precisely at her wrist, cutting off and breaking the Riser. Tomoe fell down and out from her transformation at once.

“So fast...!” uttered Tae in awe.

Moca swung her blade, but Ran managed to block on time. The two traded sword blows for a while, but Ran seemed to have the upper hand... until Himari launched an energy blast towards her, knocking away her momentum and allowing Moca to slash Ran's chest. However, just before Moca could land another hit, Ran retaliated by flinging a fiery tornado towards her, sending her flying away in an explosion.

More blasts were sent to Ran's way, courtesy of Himari. She managed to dodge and deflect them with relative ease, closing their distances as she did so. Himari eventually tried to back away, but Ran was too fast for her. She launched a fire gale wave from her sword, hitting Himari square on her legs and knocking her down.

Before Ran could land the blow on Himari's Riser, however, Moca comes back into the scene and about to slice Ran again... only to be interrupted by Kasumi yet again, as she hurled her axe to knock her down.

“Kasumi...?”

“I don't care what you say... I will protect you too!” she insisted.

Ran stared at her for a moment, before letting out a laugh. “You're so stubborn, Kasumi...”

“You're the same!” Kasumi protested.

“Heh... I guess you're right.”

As Moca and Himari recovered, a horde of Hives suddenly entered the scene and rounded upon them.

“We'll take care of them!”

The other four Poppinrangers started fending off the Hives, leaving Kasumi and Ran to face Moca and Himari. The two stood side by side, before charging towards their foes.

Himari launched another barrage of emergy blasts while Moca dashed forward. Kasumi and Ran had to evade the oncoming blasts, as Moca charged towards Ran and mindlessly struck her just after she evaded a blast. However, Ran was quick enough to deflect— her block was so strong that it pushed Moca back a few feet.

Meanwhile, Kasumi kept closing her distance from Himari, swiftly dodging and swaying between the energy blasts, sometimes retaliating with her own. One such retaliation eventually landed, toppling Himari to the ground. Not wasting her chance, Kasumi leapt towards the downed Himari and slashed her right wrist, effectively breaking the Riser. Himari reverted to her human form, laying unconscious on the ground.

At the same time, Ran once again had Moca against the wall. She managed to flung Moca's sword away, tripping her to the ground. Ran readied herself for the finishing blow, but...

“Agh...! Argh!”

The currents of electricity began to intensify on Ran's body, paralyzing her with pain. She stepped back and grasped her arm, howling in agony.

“Ran!” shouted Kasumi, running towards her friend— only to be intercepted by a group Hives. “Out of my way!!” she roared, cleaving them down and trying to break through them.

Meanwhile, Moca took this opportunity to kick Ran on the groin, knocking her down. She keeled on the ground, writhing in pain.

“No...” she muttered, exerting all of her strength to resist the overload of power and getting back up. “I won't lose... until I free you!”

She reached for her sword and charged towards Moca, who's to slow to evade. The slash landed on her right wrist, cutting down the Riser. 

The two reverted to their human state at almost the same time, both of their Risers emitting smoke. As the two kneeled on the ground, Ran caught Moca in her embrace.

“Ran...” came the faint voice of her friend. “You've... saved me...”

“I... I guess I did...” Ran laughed softly, tightening their embrace. 

“Ran! Raaaan!”

Himari suddenly stormed in and hugged Ran from behind, bawling with tears. 

“Oh my God, I'm so sorry!” she wailed. “I'm sorry that I've hurt you so much!!”

“H—Himari...”

“You did it, Ran-chan! You did it!” Tsugumi stormed and joined in on the hug pile. 

“You're so cool, Ran! You saved us all!” Tomoe was the last one to participate, her arms wrapping all of them into a tight embrace.

“Guys... y—you're all...”

Ran's voice started to tremble as tears began streaming from her eyes.

“Oh...? Ran, you shouldn't cry after acting the hero~” teased Moca.

“I... I don't care...” Ran smiled through the tears. “Our same as always... has returned...”

“Yup, and we won't ever lose it again,” said Tsugumi reassuringly. “You can rest easy, Ran-chan!”

The five continued to huddle together, the setting sun bearing witness to a beautiful reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> random thought but wouldn't it be funny if I made a Power Rangers adaptation where everything takes place in New Zealand and Kasumi is called some western name like Karen or something
> 
> anyways hope you enjoyed the chapter


	15. My Guiding Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Poppinrangers plan their final assault, they reflect upon their journey thus far.

The white control room in CiRCLE's basement has never been this packed with people before. It was a day after Afterglow got freed from their mind control, and now they roamed free inside the white room.

“Whoa...”

The four of them glanced around in awe, mouths agape as they went.

“Never realized something like this existed under CiRCLE... this looks like a movie set!” commented Himari.

“Or a hideout on a sci-fi shoujo manga...” added Moca, admiring the intricate computers and screens before her.

“Not to mention this blobby robot!” Tomoe pointed towards Kris, who immediately slapped her on the back of her head.

“I'm not a blobby robot! I have a name!”

“That's Kris, the robot that takes care of things here!” said Kasumi. The Poppinrangers had already anticipated the four's arrival.

After they finished their sightseeing, the ex-Voidgers stood befote the six Poppinrangers and Kris, ready with their explanations.

“So... you can remember everything that happened while you're brainwashed?” asked Kris.

“Yeah,” Tomoe nodded at once. “But... it's more like having to watch your life unfold before you from a TV screen... and you can't do anything to control it.”

“It was so terrifying...” Himari shuddered. “Watching myself hurt so many people, while I can't prevent it...”

Briefly glancing to the side, Kasumi noticed Ran's fists clenching. It must've been hard for her, to hear her friends had been suffering for so long...

“But because of that, we were able to see and know a lot of things!” Tsugumi spoke, bringing a positive light to the situation. “Lord Kaibuzu, his forces, Poppinrangers... all of that!”

“That is a good thing,” Kris agreed. “So... what have you guys gathered?”

“Well, the biggest thing we found was that Lord Kaibuzu is planning for a full scale assault to worm you guys out,” explained Tomoe.

Rimi blinked. “Worm us out...? He's going to attack Earth... to eliminate us?” 

“That's what he said himself~” said Moca. “He wanted to get rid of you guys first, then take over the world. In fact... if it wasn't because of that woman, he would've done it already.”

“Woman?” repeated Arisa, rising an eyebrow.

“Yeah... she was the one who controlled our Voidger powers,” Tsugumi replied, her gaze casted to the floor. “She wore a maid outfit and kept talking about experiments in front of us...”

The Poppinrangers collectively gasped at once, turning towards Ran. She herself was positively shocked as well— her eyes widened by the mention of the maid outfit.

“Th—that's... the woman who gave me my powers too!” she babbled. “She... she also showed up when I waited for Tsugumi to wake up... that's how I knew about my Hazard Mode!”

“Wait a sec— what?! Why didn't you tell us sooner?!” yelled Arisa, a little irked by this.

“I didn't have a chance to!”

“Anyway!” Saaya's voice cut across the two before they could further their arguments, “does this mean... she's not an ally?”

“Could be... or maybe, she's just a spectator,” muttered Kris. Before the others could pursue this topic, they pushed onto something else.

“Did you learn about when Lord Kaibuzu will enact his plans?”

“No,” Himari shook her head grimly. “He said he'll wait until us Voidgers can finish our job... but that didn't happen, so we're worried he's going to attack soon...”

“But we know something that might help you guys!” Tomoe grinned, and everyone's attention was drawn to her. “We know that Lord Kaibuzu has a secret hideout here on Earth... and he's been staying there for a long time. If you guys can ambush that hideout...”

“...we can prevent Lord Kaibuzu from attacking us!” beamed Kasumi, with the others nodding in agreement.

“To think that Lord Kaibuzu is already on Earth this entire time, though...” Saaya mumbled, a wry smile on her pate.

“That just makes it easier for us to beat him,” encouraged Tae. 

“Alright! This is what you've been preparing for, girls,” said Kris. “All five of you must take down Lord Kaibuzu before he can bring forth any more ruin to this world. Tomorrow, you all will embark on an assault against him!”

“Yeah!” cheered the five.

“Wait,” Ran stepped forward. “What about me? My Riser... you've checked on it, right?”

“Well... your Riser broke after you forced it to use Hazard Mode,” Kris rubbed the back of their head. “Miraculously, the Crystal is fine... but until I can make you another Riser bracelet, you can't transform.”

“You can stop playing the hero now, Ran~ you've saved the princess already,” said Moca.

“Princesses, to be exact!” Tsugumi corrected her.

Ran heaved a long sigh, turning to the five Poppinrangers with a smile. “Then...I guess I'll leave everything to all of you. Defeat him for me, okay?”

“Yeah!” Kasumi nodded, pumping her fist up. “Leave him to us!”

* * *

After a long and hefty discussion about where and when they would attack, the five members of Popipa left CiRCLE to head back home.

“This is it, huh? It all comes down to whether or not we can beat Lord Kaibuzu...” Arisa rubbed her nape. “Yikes... I feel nervous already.”

“Mhm, it's like preparing for a big concert...” Rimi chuckled awkwardly.

“Big concert...” Tae looked thoughtful for a moment. “Ah, that means we're performing in front of Lord Kaibuzu!”

“That's not a good metaphor!” Arisa complained.

“But the nerves are the same,” Saaya grimaced. “I'm feeling really uneasy myself... how about you, Kasumi?”

“I do too!” Kasumi replied, her lips pursed. “My heart is already pounding in nervousness... uuh, I don't like it at all!”

“Maybe we can do something about it?” Tae presented an idea. While she looked the least nervous out of the five, she's ready to help anyway.

“Something about it...?” Kasumi muttered, pinching her chin. She was then struck with a wave of inspiration.

“I got it!”

“What?” asked Arisa, bracing for whatever dumb scheme Kasumi had in mind.

“Sometimes, the night before our big performances, we do a sleepover in Arisa's house!” Kasumi beamed. “So... let's have a sleepover!”

There was a murmur of agreement from everyone... sans Arisa, of course.

“W—wait, you can't just go and decide that by yourself! That's my house you're talking about!” she yelled at once.

“Fine, then! Show of hands, who agrees with me?”

Kasumi raised her hand first, followed with Rimi, Tae and Saaya.

“Alright, it's settled!” cheered Kasumi. “I better get home and grab my clothes!”

“Nothing's settled, you idiot!” Arisa complained... before giving up, massaging her forehead. “Ah, geez...”

* * *

As the night falls on Ryuseido, the light in Arisa's room still turned on. The five girls now sat in a circle, silently staring at each other.

“...uh,” Arisa scratched her cheek. “What are we supposed to do here?”

“I haven't thought that far yet,” Saaya laughed. “How about... ah, let's tell stories!”

“Oh, story time!” Rimi chirped. “I have a few ghost stories I want to tell!”

“Ghost stories?! Anything but ghost stories!!” Kasumi yelped almost immediately, her hands covering her ears.

Arisa rolled her eyes. “Geez, you've been fighting weird alien monsters all this time and you're _still_ afraid of ghosts?”

“They're different!” argued Kasumi. “You can't beat up a ghost!”

“ _Touché_...”

Tae pulled her guitar from out of nowhere and started serenading. “Ghost stories are too scary for Kasumi~”

“Maybe not ghost stories, then...” Saaya went back into thinking again. “Oh, tell us how you got your Spirit Crystal, O-Tae! You haven't told us that, y'know!”

“Ah, that's right...! It was from Chisato-senpai, wasn't it?” Rimi recalled.

“Yuh-huh!” Tae replied, grinning broadly. “She helped me figure out what should I do to write my song, and then the Buzz attacked, so I saved her!”

“And that's how she knew you were a Poppinranger...” groaned Arisa.

“Oh! You haven't told us about your new song in a while!” chirped Kasumi. “Is it done? Is it done?”

Tae thought for a moment. “Well... I think so. Want to listen?”

The four nodded eagerly. Tae curled a smile and began strumming her guitar, taking a deep breath as she started to sing.

_“Poppin'! Poppin'!_   
_Find the strength to keep on going!_   
_Fightin'! Fightin'!_   
_Be brave cause we're gonna win!_

_The winds brushing over me,_   
_As I took on our enemies,_   
_Feel the heart-pounding adrenaline!_   
_To shield the people we love,_   
_Me and you, we'll overcome—_   
_Every obstacle on our way!_

_We can't be separated, we can't be divided!_   
_They gotta say their prayers, 'cause we're here to stop 'em!_

_Poppin'! Poppin'!_   
_You and I, we can do it!_   
_Fightin'! Fightin'!_   
_Chase the line to victory!_   
_Big or small, weak or tough,_   
_Doesn't matter when you have the spirit!_   
_Let's create a miracle,_   
_And sparkle bright like the stars!”_

As Tae finished her playing, the rest clapped excitedly.

“The lyrics are so good!” cheered Rimi.

“Sounds like something Kasumi would write,” Arisa commented. “Not that it's a bad thing.”

Tae chuckled. “Thanks. Chisato-senpai told me to write what I feel when being a Poppinranger, so... that's what I feel!”

“That's really cool! We gotta work on the arrangement really soon!” said Kasumi, eager to perform that song.

“Mhm! We'll work on it after we beat Lord Kaibuzu!” Tae nodded briskly, before turning to Rimi. “What about you, Rimi? How did you end up getting Michelle Armor?”

“You said you met Misaki with Saaya, right?” Arisa tilted her head. 

“Yup... well, it's mostly from Saaya's request. She wanted to knit a felt doll for her siblings,” Rimi explained. 

“We ran into Misaki on our way to the handicraft store...” Saaya added. “Ever since then, she's been sparing some time teaching us about knitting!”

“Ooh! Can you make me a felt doll too?” Tae requested. “I want it in the shape of a bunny.”

Rimi giggled. “Sure thing, O-Tae-chan! We'll make a felt doll for all of you!”

“And to think all of that started from a small thought...” Saaya lets out a laugh. “By the way, Misaki is a big fan of Chocolate Pink, you know.”

“Ah... yeah, that's pretty obvious just by looking at her SNS feed,” muttered Arisa, glancing at Rimi with a somewhat smug smile. “You've got yourself a devoted fan, Rimi.”

Covering her blushing features, Rimi looked away. “Aah... putting it that way makes it embarassing...” 

Unable to contain herself, Tae glomped Rimi and wrapped her in a hug, sending the poor girl to an even bigger panic. “Of course she's a fan! You're really cute, Rimi!” she said.

Kasumi laughed, then turned to Saaya. “What about your Spirit Crystal, Saaya? Any stories behind it other than what we know?”

The one in question scratched her nose. “I don't think there's much about it... you guys know I got attacked by Moca while she was brainwashed, she harmed Sana and Jun... and then the Crystal came.”

“W—wait,” Arisa's eyes widened at once, “your siblings got hurt?! Why didn't you tell us?!”

“Don't worry, they weren't hurt,” Saaya shook her head. “But I guess I got so angry that I thought they were.”

“Whoa... never knew you'd be so protective of your siblings,” Kasumi spoke in awe.

“Well, you'd do the same if it were Asuka, wouldn't you?”

“Of course!” Kasumi nodded determinedly. “If Aa-chan gets hurt... oh, I would be sooo mad!”

Arisa huffed, her gaze downcast. “I can't even picture you being mad...”

Tae, who had just finished cuddling Rimi, turned to the twintailed girl. “Ah, Arisa... you haven't got a Spirit Crystal, haven't you?”

Pursing her lips, Arisa tried to be dismissive. “What about it? I'm doing just fine without it.”

“That's true...” Rimi acknowledged the fact, smiling thoughtfully about their past battles. “Arisa-chan is the only one of us who can fully control the Miracle Crystal powers, down to the point where she can create barriers with it!”

“Mhm! And the... um, the green whip thingy— whatever that's called, that's a cool weapon!” added Kasumi, sounding more and more enthusiastic by the second.

Arisa, on the other hand, wasn't used to such praise. “Y—you guys can stop now...” she stammered, burying her red-as-tomato face into her thighs.

“C'mon, don't undersell yourself!” Saaya beamed, amazed at how adorable her friend is acting right now. “You're a really good Poppinranger!”

“Maybe the best of the best~” praised Tae.

Arisa hastily stood up and looked away. “I—I'm going to get a drink!” she babbled, hiding the flustered look upon her mien as she stepped out from her room.

“You think she'll be alright...?” Rimi glanced at the other three.

“She's just shy,” Saaya laughed it off. “Arisa always does that, you know.”

Tae got to her feet and picked up a bolster. “While we wait for her... let's have a pillow fight!”

“Ooh! You got it! Weapon Call: **Super Sparkling Pillow**!” Kasumi reached for a pillow of her own, grinning all the way through. “Fall before Sparkling Red!”

“Bunny Blue's not going to lose!”

“Wait, I'm joining too!” Saaya picked up her own pillow and slapped it into Kasumi's face. “Sneak attack!”

“Bweh!” Kasumi was bonked to the floor.

“Impressive tactic!” Tae commented, before raising her bolster and swinging it repeatedly at Saaya. “ **Speed Mode!** ” 

Although pummelled by the vicious pillow attacks, Saaya couldn't stop laughing. “Ahahahaha— O-Tae, you're so agressive!” she said, hitting Tae with a few strikes of her own.

Tae briefly turned to Rimi, who had been laughing through all of this. “Chocolate Pink, you're joining the fight too!”

“E—eh?! Me?!” she gasped, before recieving a pillow hit on the face.

As Saaya was distracted by her own laughter, Kasumi picked up her pillow and tossed it at her. “Counter sneak attack!”

“Woah!” Saaya narrowly dodged the pillow as it flew across the room...

“Guys? I heard somethi—”

...and crashed onto Arisa's face the moment she entered.

Everyone stopped dead on their tracks, watching Arisa slowly pick up the pillow on her face.

“I left you guys for _five_ minutes...” Arisa's voice shook as she raised the pillow. “Come here, all of you!!”

Pillow aloft, Arisa charged towards the four with a howl of fury.

“It's the **Pillow Buzz**! Run!” Tae jested, running away as Arisa gave chase. The chaos continued to ensue through the night, pillows flying back and forth through the room.

* * *

It was some time after their pillow war, and the lights in Arisa's room are now turned off. The girls are now asleep in their futons... well, at least Kasumi thought they are. She herself was wide awake, staring towards the dark ceiling.

The thought of sleeping feels so improbable to her now, not with all of these thoughts running on her mind about tomorrow. It feels so strange to her— usually, she'd be the one to charge without thinking, so having this many thoughts about what will happen was admittedly overwhelming. 

Can they carry out their mission and defeat Lord Kaibuzu tomorrow? Of course they can, there's no doubt about that. But after that... what happens next? Will they continue their responsibility as Poppinrangers, or would they return to their normal lives, back as Popipa? Will defeating Lord Kaibuzu stop all of the trouble from coming? These thoughts kept buzzing through her mind, like static noise from a radio. They're annoying, and she can't turn them off willingly.

Suddenly, she heard a creak.

Kasumi raised her head and looked around, squinting to see a faint light leaking from the crease from the door. Someone... opened it?

“Who...?”

She glanced over to her bandmates, all three soundlessly asleep.

Wait. All _three?_

She blinked and realized that Arisa was missing from the pile. 

“Arisa...?”

Surrendering to her body's refusal to get some sleep, Kasumi got up from her futon and walked out from the room, following Arisa's— or whoever it was —trail. She could hear faint footsteps descending the stairs... and another creak of a door. Bracing through the dark, she took the stairs down and walked to the front door, which momentarily swayed close just as she reached the lowest step. Trying not to make too much noise, she approached the door and swung it open.

“Arisa?” she called.

The girl jolted and turned, clearly wasn't expecting Kasumi's presence. “D—did I... wake you up?”

Kasumi shook her head, closing the door behind her. “I couldn't sleep.”

“Oh...” Arisa's gaze fell to the ground. “Me too.”

Kasumi stepped closer towards the other girl, eventually arriving at the other's side. “That's why you're outside this late?”

“Yeah...” Arisa nodded, gazing to the star-studded skies. “I just wanted to clear my head for a bit.”

Kasumi looked at her friend's face for a moment, glinted by the night's stars. To her, she looked... really pretty.

“Kasumi... be honest with me,” Arisa suddenly looked down again, a solemn expression written all over her face. “Have I... done a good job? Y'know... as a Poppinranger.”

Kasumi frowned, her eyebrows knitted together as she stared at her incredulously. “Of course you do, Arisa! Without you, Poppinranger wouldn't be Poppinranger!”

Arisa shifted her gaze aside, slouching. “That's what you would say...” she muttered, seemingly dissatisfied by Kasumi's answer.

“I'm serious, you've really done a good job!” Kasumi insisted, maintaining the stern look upon her face. “Without you, who knows how many Buzzes we'd probably lose to!”

“I guess that's true...” Arisa responded, holding her forearm tightly and still refusing to make eye contact. “It's just... I fight for what I want to protect, just like the others... but I don't see other people putting their faith in me.”

Realization immediately dawned upon Kasumi as she heard those words. “You're still anxious about the Spirit Crystals?”

“Yeah... I guess,” Arisa heaved a sigh. “I... I don't know if anyone believes in me... if anyone trusted me to protect them—”

“I believe in you!”

Those words came from Kasumi's mouth without her mind could process it— not that any thinking would change the answer anyway.

Arisa instantly turned to the other, eyes widened and mouth agape. Kasumi looked as stern and as serious as she had been...

“I believe in you, Arisa!” Kasumi repeated with even more firmness than before. “You... you keep reminding me that there are people who want to protect me too. Without you, I would've lost my way so many times!”

“Kasumi...”

“I believe in you, not just as Poppinranger,” Kasumi went on, “but as Popipa's keyboardist, too! Without you leading my way... without you starting all of this, I wouldn't be here! _We_ wouldn't be here, together as one!”

Arisa's cheeks flushed pink, almost concealed by the darkness of the night. “B—but... that one was you. If you didn't act so pushy... I wouldn't have the courage to move forward...”

“Does it matter where you got that courage? Because of it, you've stopped me from doing a lot of bad calls. That's all that matters to me... and that's why I believe in you with all my life!” 

As Kasumi took her hand, Arisa could feel her heart thumping faster. All of her urges told her to look away... but somehow, she gathered the courage to stare into Kasumi's purplish eyes. Meanwhile, Kasumi lifted the hand she picked up and smiled.

“This is proof of my faith,” she said. A faint glow emitted from Arisa's Riser bracelet... and a Spirit Crystal formed on it. Arisa watched it in awe, while feeling the warmth of Kasumi's touch.

“Kasumi...” she muttered, still in disbelief. “You... really believe in me?”

“Of course,” Kasumi nodded earnestly. “I believe in you... to lead me to the right path. I guess you can say that... you're my _guiding star_ , Arisa.”

Everything Kasumi had said so far had shook Arisa's heart... but this one takes the cake for being the most shocking one. She completely froze for a moment, in contrast to her burning face.

“Kasumi... you...”

Slowly, a small smile formed on her lips— then turned into a wide grin, as tears slowly began rolling from her eyes.

“You idiot...” she sniffed. “Saying all of those things, putting your faith in me...”

Suddenly, Arisa glomped and buried her face onto Kasumi's chest, wrapping her arms tightly around her body. It was out of the norm for her to initiate the embrace... but she couldn't help herself.

“I won't... I won't fail you, I promise...!” she uttered between the sobs.

Kasumi's smile looked eternal— as if nothing could ever get rid of it. She pulled Arisa close, tightly entwining them to the embrace. 

“I know you won't,” she whispered. “That's why I believe in you.”

It shocked her just how warm this felt, within her embrace. If she could, she wanted to remain in it forever... just cuddling like this, with the stars watching from above. 

On that moment, Kasumi realized that it doesn't matter what happens after they accomplish their mission and defeat Lord Kaibuzu.

As long as she could have moments like these in the future... she couldn't care less about the rest.

* * *

Sunlight slowly penetrated the windows on Arisa's window, bringing forth a new day in its wake. 

“Good morning...”

Saaya got up from her futon after a good night's sleep, rubbing her eyes to regain her focus. She turned to see Tae and Rimi still asleep... but Kasumi and Arisa were nowhere to be found.

Then she heard a rumble. Turning towards it... she spotted the two lying against the wall, wrapped in a single blanket. Their heads rested upon each other, they wore tranquil smiles on their faces.

Saaya's lips reflected their smiles. She had no idea what happened overnight between the two of them, but as long as their smiles remain, as long at these happy moments continue to happen, it doesn't matter to her.

And today, for those moments... they're going to fight.


	16. Charge! Assault on Lord Kaibuzu's Fortress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In order to end this battle, the Poppinrangers assaulted Lord Kaibuzu's fortress.

Dirt and gravel spanned as far as the eyes could see, bordered by wire fences. Bricks and other debris were strewn across the gravel field, old and abandoned without anyone to clean them up. It was a messy sight— what should've been a construction site for a ginormous plaza is now nothing but a pile of rubble and junk.

It was such an unassuming sight... and yet, a group of five girls are so attracted to it that they gathered there.

“This is the place, right...?” Arisa glanced around the junk-filled yard, as if looking for something.

“They said that we can't see it until we transform into Poppinranger,” said Tae, recalling what the ex-Voidgers told them.

“Well then... let's transform!” urged Kasumi, and the others nodded in agreement. At once, they tapped the Crystals on their Riser bracelets.

“ **Miracle Change!** ”

A gathering of light emitted from their bodies, dispersing and revealing themselves in their Ranger outfits. The five Poppinrangers glanced around... and all of a sudden, something that wasn't there previously appeared before their eyes.

It was a stone skull, towering before them amidst all of the junk. Its jaws was wide open, revealing what seemed to be the entrance.

“Woah, that's freaky...” mumbled Saaya, her eyes looking over the giant skull. “This must be the way in.”

“Alright, let's go!” cheered Kasumi. 

“Ah...!” Rimi suddenly raised her voice, drawing everyone else's attention. “Can we... do a huddle first? Like before our concerts!”

“Oh, good idea!” Kasumi nodded, then stretched her right hand forward. The others followed, piling their hands into one. 

“Everyone is counting on us...” Kasumi began. “Afterglow, Roselia, Pastel*Pallettes, Harohapi, our friends at Hanasakigawa, Haneoka, the Shopping District, the people at CiRCLE... everyone is counting on us! So let's do our best, and reach for victory!”

The others nodded, knowing that a confident smile adorned each and every one of them.

“Alright! One, two, three!”

“Po-pi-pa! Pi-po-pa! Po-pi-pa-pa-pi-po-pa!”

* * *

The Poppinrangers made their way into Lord Kaibuzu's fortress. Not even deep within the place, they've already encountered a group of his minions— Hives —who immediately charged at them.

“Charge!” ordered Kasumi, and the five engaged the Hives. Kasumi knocked down one, two, five, ten... she and her friends mowed through the Hives with relative ease.

“ **Speed Mode!** ” Tae zipped around them and knocked out the remaining Hives, finally clearing themselves from their foes.

“He must be further in here!” shouted Saaya from across the room. “Let's move!”

The five moved forward into a descent of stairs, barred with even more Hives coming their way.

“Take this!” Rimi stretched her right hand forward, her hand replaced with an arm cannon that shot a stream of energy beam towards the enemies, vaporizing them instantly as the Rangers continued down the stairs.

Once they reached the very bottom... they saw no one but a shadowy figure before them.

“Lord Kaibuzu?!” shouted Kasumi. “It's over for you! You're going down right here!”

“Heh... foolish Rangers,” mocked the figure, as he slowly approached the five. He's covered in a black robe, his face completely concealed beneath a hood. “The ones that are going down are you.”

“Shut up,” hissed Arisa. “You have no right being here!”

“Oho... do I? Well... you'd have to get rid of me by force!”

Lord Kaibuzu suddenly outstretched his arms, conjuring five orbs of electricity from thin air. The orbs zipped and homed into each of the Rangers, they narrowly dodging them.

“Weapon Call: **Michelle Armor**!”

“ **Speed Mode!** ”

In a flash, Tae ran towards Lord Kaibuzu and leapt towards him with a flying side kick, while Rimi flew high and blasted him with her twin shoulder cannons.

“Don't get too cocky!” Lord Kaibuzu scoffed, sending more electric orbs towards Rimi to block off the attack. He then blocked Tae's kick with relative ease, pushing her back a few feet. Tae stormed back at him and launched a series of quick punches... but Lord Kaibuzu was able to keep up with her, blocking all of her attacks.

“Haaah!”

However, he didn't take account for the rest of the Rangers, for Kasumi had leapt without him knowing, pouncing him with her Starry Axe. He was knocked back by the attack, but sent more electric orbs on her way as retaliation. 

Arisa managed to conjure an energy barrier just in time, protecting the two from the blast. Meanwhile, Saaya charged from his back, tossing her Golden Aegis shield towards Lord Kaibuzu. He tumbled to the ground from said attack... but immediately flew up and launched a spark of lightning towards her.

“Agh!”

The jolt hits Saaya square on the chest, flinging her into the air. Rimi managed to catch her before she fell, flying away from Lord Kaibuzu's sights.

“Weapon Call: **Brave Lance**!”

Kasumi took Lord Kaibuzu by surprise, running towards him with her lance pointed at him. He managed to evade the attack, however— countering with a strong roundhouse straight into Kasumi's face. She collapsed to the ground with a hard crash... but as she fell, she stretched her right palm forward to fire a blast to his face. The blast confused Lord Kaibuzu more than anything, as he stepped back and reeling from the explosion.

“What—?!”

Tae swooped in from out of nowhere, tackling his feet with a blistering slide. Lord Kaibuzu goofily fell to the ground... and Saaya was falling upon him after being dropped by Rimi. She raised her twin batons and smashed them onto Lord Kaibuzu's belly, pouncing him with a deafening crash that created a massive crater on the floor.

Saaya leapt back as the five Poppinrangers gathered together for one final strike. They stretched their palms forward, charging their blasts while Lord Kaibuzu got up to his feet.

“ **Poppin' Blaster!** ”

The combined blast flew towards Lord Kaibuzu, who shielded himself with a massive electric orb. The Rangers used all the strength they could muster to push through his barrier... and before long, the blast landed cleanly on Lord Kaibuzu, creating a massive explosion as the aftermath.

Once the smoke cleared... Lord Kaibuzu was nowhere in sight, only pieces of his torn cloth remain.

“Did that... do it?” Arisa muttered, the five glancing around for any sight of some other foe.

“I think... I think we do!” cheered Rimi. “We've beaten Lord Kaibuzu!”

“Good work, everyone! We did it!” Kasumi exclaimed, unable to contain her excitement any longer.

Tae, however... looked perturbed. She walked towards what remains of Lord Kaibuzu, a mingled stare thrown towards the torn cloth.

“O-Tae... what's wrong?” asked Saaya.

Tae tilted her head. “This feels... anticlimactic. He's not tougher than the Buzzes we've seen before.”

The cheerful atmosphere faded as soon as it had appeared, in its place a sense of growing anxiety. Kasumi thought about it too— this feels way too easy. After all the struggle they went through... why was the final enemy this easy?

As if right on cue, a panicked voice rang on their ears at once.

“G—girls...! Get out of there, quickly!!”

“Kris?! Wha—”

A loud explosion can be heard from above, as the underground area they're in slowly collapsing.

“It's falling apart!” screamed Arisa in an instant. Without looking back, the five ran up through the stairs, their surroundings crumbling into pieces. 

A large boulder came rolling from above amidst their escape, quickly making its way towards them. Rimi shot off beams from her cannon, dispersing the boulders into many pieces. Meanwhile, Tae took the other three by the hand and pulled them through with her blistering speed.

They eventually escaped the stairs, but the fortress continued to crumble. Quickly making a beeline for the exit, the Rangers didn't slow down at once until they got out.

And once they're outside... a horrifying sight greeted them.

An armada of spacecrafts and giant machinations loomed over the sky, firing blasts after blasts towards everything it sees.

“Th—that's... the Buzz Force...?! Lord Kaibuzu's army...?!” gasped Kasumi, shock and horror filling their bodies. 

“B, but... we've defeated him!” Arisa roared, stomping the ground in frustration. “This... this shouldn't have happened!!”

“I wouldn't be so sure.”

That voice. So awfully collected, so eerily deep... it sent chills down their spine. The five turned to where that voice came, their breaths strained by the sight before them.

“L—Lord... Kaibuzu?!”

No cloak concealed his horrific appearance this time— a towering figure with blinding yellow skin, with black skeletal armor covering his body and his skull-like face, as if his bones grew outside his flesh and not vice versa. His colors resembled that of a bee— and to complete the look, he had giant black wings protruding from his back, plus his hand held a jet black, sting-like lance.

Slowly making his descent, Lord Kaibuzu laughed in amusement of the terror he has made.

“You're... you're dead...!” Rimi spluttered, fear rooting her on the spot. “How...?!”

Lord Kaibuzu howled with laughter. “Foolish Rangers... did you really think I was that weak?!”

“Don't tell me... it was a trap all along?!” barked Tae, her grim suspicions coming true.

“Of course... I have to say, **Illusion Buzz** did his work well,” commented Lord Kaibuzu, puffing his chest. “But he failed at finishing his task of killing all of you... no matter.”

“You...! You set us up to die?!” Kasumi clenched her fist, rage slowly bubbling within her. To witness someone this evil in her life... it's unacceptable.

“Hm... no,” Lord Kaibuzu shook his head, before pointing towards what's behind them. “But to grant you the sight... of despair.”

The Poppinrangers turned around, watching as the town they sought to protect was torn asunder by Lord Kaibuzu's forces. 

“Didn't you vow yourselves to protect this world?” mocked Lord Kaibuzu. “It seems you have failed... in the end, my destruction reigns supreme. You couldn't even protect this town you loved... and you won't be able to protect this world.”

The galactic leader's words pierced through their hearts like a sharp knife. Kasumi kneeled and clenched his fists, unable to stomach the sight of destruction before her. They... failed? All the faith people put into them... and they couldn't even do what they sought to do. Lord Kaibuzu was right... despair began to swell from within her, and she hated it. She didn't want this feeling, and yet she didn't know how to stop it.

“ _Shut up!_ ”

A voice rang, breaking her free from her clouded thoughts.

“What did you say?” Lord Kaibuzu turned to where the voice came.

“I said, shut up!” Arisa stood tall and defiant, not a single trace of fear in her words. “It's better late than never, isn't it? If we can't stop you from attacking our town... then we'll stop you before you completely destroy it!!”

“What nonsense is this?!” barked Lord Kaibuzu, getting irked over this display of defiance. 

“It's not nonsense!” Arisa went on, courage brimming from her voice. “You're not going to lull us into despair... because everyone is counting on us!”

“Everyone is counting on us...” muttered Kasumi. Those words felt like a wake-up call for her— a slap in the face to yank her out from her despair. Once again, her guiding light...

“Yeah... yeah!”

Kasumi turned back to Lord Kaibuzu, a flame igniting through the cloud of despair within. 

“It's not too late... it's never too late!” she shouted with renewed vigor, “as long as there are people who believe in us... we'll work hard to protect them!”

“What she said!” Tae shouted too. “Just because you've started your destruction doesn't mean that we can't stop it!”

“And we _will_ stop it, no matter what! To protect the moments, the memories we have in this world...” continued Saaya firmly, as she stood fearlessly alongside her friends.

“No matter how tough it may be... for the world we love, we're stopping you!” Rimi bravely declared, the five of them facing Lord Kaibuzu as one.

“And that's our job... as the **Star Squadron, Poppinranger!** ”

“Stubborn little flies... know your place!” roared Lord Kaibuzu angrily.

“Our sparkling and heart-pounding feeling is going to stop you today!” yelled Kasumi. “Let's go, Poppinrangers!”

At once, the five charged fearlessly towards Lord Kaibuzu.

“Insolent fools! I'll crush you all!”

Lord Kaibuzu swung his lance and launched a yellow wave of energy towards them. They narrowly avoided the attack, Rimi blasting off to the sky and sending a massive energy beam towards her foe. However, Lord Kaibuzu easily deflected it and responded with a lightning bolt from the sky, swatting Rimi down like a fly before she fell to the ground.

“Rimi-rin!” howled Saaya, merging her batons into one long staff. “Damn you...!”

Kasumi and Saaya swung their weapons at the same time, but Lord Kaibuzu quickly parried both strikes without difficulty, flinging both of their weapons away from their hands. Tae came with an ambush from behind, launching a series of yellow energy disks... that Lord Kaibuzu shrugged off as if it was nothing. 

“What...?!”

He quickly turned around towards Tae and sent sparks of lightning from his hand, stopping her dead on her tracks and knocking her down.

Kasumi snuck up a punch while he didn't look, but Lord Kaibuzu didn't flinch. He quickly turned and attempted to swing his lance at her... but Saaya jumped on his back and wrapped him in a full nelson— both of her arms encircling Lord Kaibuzu's arms under his armpits, locking him in place.

“Damned woman!” Lord Kaibuzu roared thunderously, before surging his body with electricity. Saaya howled in pain as the surge reached her body, puncturing her like needles. She released her grip and fell to the ground unceremoniously.

“Saaya...!” Kasumi grew more desperate, calling forth the Brave Lance into her hand. The two clashed their lances for a brief period, but Lord Kaibuzu gains the upper hand after he broke through Kasumi's defenses. He kicked Kasumi down to the ground, sending sparks from his hand to ensure that she stays down.

Suddenly, a green whip wrapped his lance and tried to tug it away. Lord Kaibuzu turned to see Arisa, using all of her might to release that weapon from his grasp. He was so focused by her... that he didn't see Rimi jetting towards him until it's too late. Like a bullet, Rimi zipped through the air and punched Lord Kaibuzu in the face, knocking him back and removing his lance from his hand. 

Not letting up, Rimi tried to follow up with another punch... but Lord Kaibuzu expanded his wings and swerved around her. He ended up flying above her, kicking her down and striking her with a lightning bolt. He then turned towards Arisa and fired sparks from both of his hands. Arisa conjured a barrier in front of her... but the sparks were too strong. It broke through the barrier and exploded in her face, sending her flying away.

With all five Poppinrangers beneath his feet, Lord Kaibuzu slowly makes his descent to his lance.

“You know... I did consider letting you all live just to make you suffer,” he said, picking up his black lance, “but now I realize that all of you would never learn just by watching. So...”

He raised his lance high, pointing it to the sky.

“ **Final Sting!** ”

A massive bolt of lightning surged from the clouds and into the lance, covering it with yellow surges of electricity.

He pointed his charged lance towards Arisa, who was struggling to her feet.

“Your insolence disgusts me... and for that, you must die.”

The lance shot out a towering bolt of lightning, heading straight towards the purple Ranger.

“Arisa!!”

Arisa was rooted to the spot, fear finally setting into her body and numbing her senses. She watched as the lightning bolt made its way towards her, about to hit her. She closed her eyes and braced for the impact—

Then, she felt a rush of wind. Before she could comprehend what happened, she could feel her body touching the ground... but there was no pain, apart from the force she felt upon falling. She slowly opened her eyes...

“Kasumi...?”

Kasumi was there, at the place where she once stood. Her whole body shook as a yellow light struck her chest. Arisa's other senses returned... and she could hear the tail end of Kasumi's screams. 

And at that point, comprehension struck her like a guillotine.

“Kasumi!!” 

She screamed as much as her lungs could support her. As if the world was in slow motion, Kasumi collapsed to the ground, her Ranger suit fading away as she reverted back to her human state.

Arisa ran as fast as she could, catching Kasumi in her arms before she touched the ground. Her eyes are closed, her body limp after taking the brunt of that attack— the one meant for Arisa.

“H—hey...! Kasumi, wake up!” Arisa shook her friend's body, her eyes darting to see the wounds caused by that attack. It's strange, that warmth from her body that she felt last night... Arisa couldn't feel it now. Is it also just her... or did her chest not move at all...?

“N, no... no, wait... Kasumi, you can't...! Wake up, please...!”

Arisa's mind suddenly drew the worst conclusion possible. But no... that can't possibly happen, can it? There's no way that she would...

Resisting every fear puncturing her body, Arisa placed her finger under Kasumi's nose... and felt neither warmth nor wind there.

“No... Kasumi, you can't...! This... this can't be...!”

Becoming more and more restless, Arisa reached for Kasumi's limp hand and grasped it tight.

“Come on, Kasumi... please!”

But no matter how many times she urged her, Kasumi didn't respond. The hand she held didn't feel as warm as she remembered... it was cold. Without pulse, or anything to signify life.

“No...! Don't... don't do this to me, you idiot...!”

Kasumi's body lay on Arisa's cradling arms, without that sparkling life usually emanating from her. Her skin grew paler and paler by the second, unmoving from her rest.

At that point, Arisa was too horrified to say anything. No matter how many times she wanted to deny it, the truth all pointed to a single, definite, irrefutable fact;

_Toyama Kasumi has died._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	17. To Forge a Miracle, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Losing an important part of them, the Poppinrangers is on a disarray.

Lord Kaibuzu's barking laughter cut through Arisa's grievances. “What an unexpected turn of events!” he declared. “How foolish of her to take the brunt of my attack... does she not value her life?”

“Shut up!!” Arisa roared, a sharp pain repeatedly stabbing her heart. “What... what did you do to her?!”

Lord Kaibuzu continued to laugh, relishing in their despair. “Isn't it obvious?! I took her life! She got in the way of my Final Sting... and died.”

“No...!” Saaya whimpered, head turned towards her friend in horror. “It... it can't be!”

“Oh, such despair...” said Lord Kaibuzu. “I think I might keep you alive for now... your suffering is amusing to watch.”

“Shut up...”

Arisa's voice shook as she laid Kasumi's body to the ground, getting back on her feet.

“Give her back... _GIVE HER BACK TO ME, YOU BASTARD!!_ ”

With a bone-chilling roar, Arisa charged towards Lord Kaibuzu. Hatred and rage blinded her senses, erasing any trace of logic or restraint she once had. There's only a single thought in her mind; this person has taken Kasumi away from her.

“Foolish!”

With just a flick on his wrist, Lord Kaibuzu launched an electric wave that knocked Arisa down. “Didn't you just hear what I said?” he mocked, “she's dead! It would take a miracle to bring her back!”

Arisa staggered to her feet, stil boiling with anger. “Shut your mouth...! You... you took her away from me...!”

“Now watch... as I and my Buzz Force reign terror to this world!”

Lord Kaibuzu spread his wings and flew to the skies, his laughter echoed until he was no longer in sight.

The four Poppinrangers returned to their human state. Saaya, Rimi and Tae immediately ran towards Kasumi.

“Kasumi...! Why...?!” 

As if Arisa's desperation didn't convince her, Saaya shook Kasumi's body violently, tears streaming from her eyes. But no matter how many times she budged her... Kasumi didn't wake up.

“This... this can't be happening...! Kasumi-chan...!” Rimi wailed, breaking down in tears.

“Kasumi... you... you dumb girl... get up!” Tae muttered through strained breaths, unable to fight back the tears herself. 

Without the presence of Lord Kaibuzu, the gravity of their situation settled in, suffocating them in a tight wrap. All this time, they have forgotten that they have risked their lives to fight... and their reminder came smashing through like a cannonball. It happened so suddenly too, without any one of them expecting it... just like that, Kasumi's life just got plucked away like an insignificant star in the vast skies.

As the three continued to weep and express their disbelief, Arisa remained rooted to the spot, her gaze downcast. This is the part where she's supposed to cry along with her friends... but somehow, she couldn't muster the tears to. She couldn't even feel sadness— or any form of feeling, in fact. It's as if there was a massive void in her heart... and with it, nothingness. 

_What an idiot_ , Arisa thought. Toyama Kasumi is the biggest idiot she has ever met. For all she knew, she should've been the one who got hit. She should've been the one who died, the one being mourned by her friends right now. But no, Kasumi had to step in and took the hit. Kasumi couldn't even stop herself for one moment to protect someone else— even if that decision costed her life. What an idiot.

And that idiot... is gone now.

She heard the sounds of footsteps, along with the low rumble of Kris' hovering engine. The little robot, along with Marina, came approaching towards Kasumi— a sight that Arisa couldn't bear to look towards.

Marina gasped upon seeing Kasumi, stepping back and covering her mouth with her hands. Kris, on the other hand, flew closer and slowly caressed her head with their hand.

“To think that Lord Kaibuzu would be even stronger that I anticipated... I should've realized it sooner!” they said, frustration ringing clear from their voice.

“Kasumi...” whimpered Saaya. “Why did this happen to her...?! I thought— I thought our power was enough to prevent this?!”

“That's what my creator's database said!” Kris argued. “He... he must've gotten stronger for some reason! Otherwise, you would've been able to defeat him!”

“What do we do now...?” asked Rimi, her face still drenched with tears. “Without Kasumi-chan... can we do anything...?”

“Of course we can!”

Arisa's voice suddenly shot across them, as she finally braved herself to approach the group. She looked contempt, without the sadness that the others shown.

Saaya could feel something was wrong with her. “Arisa...?” she muttered.

“We're... Poppinrangers, right?” Arisa continued, mustering every ounce of her remaining determination. “Even... even without her, we still need to keep fighting... because there are people who are depending on us!”

“I... I agree,” Tae nodded and stood up, wiping off the tears from her eyes. “Our fight... it's not over yet.”

Rimi still looked doubtful, eyes cast to the ground. “But... how are we supposed to do it? If he's too powerful, do we have a chance...?” 

“So what?!” shouted Arisa, shocking the rest of them. “Kasumi died trying to protect me... to protect someone she cared about... and I'm going to do the same, even if I die too!”

“Arisa, no...!” Saaya immediately stood up, grabbing and shaking her arm. “No one... no one will die anymore!”

Arisa still looked stern, relieving Saaya's grip. “That's why... we have to continue fighting. To stop any of this from happening again. Because... Kasumi wouldn't want us to stop.”

Rimi whimpered, her arms still trembling. This is too much for her— for all of them, yet Arisa still tried to act tough as she kneeled and took Rimi's hand. She turned, and her eyes met Arisa's.

“Look... I know you're scared. I am, too...” she admitted, bowing her head. “But as long as I— no, we have something to protect... we need to carry on.”

Silence followed as those words seared into their minds, rekindling their determination. Their mission has yet to be finished... that much is certain.

Though still a bit shaken, Saaya turned towards Kris. “Is there any other way we can defeat Lord Kaibuzu?”

Kris thought about it for a moment... before they spoke up. “There is one way... but it's just a hypothesis from my creator. I don't know if it actually works...”

“We'll take the chance,” replied Arisa promptly. 

“Then we need to head back to CiRCLE first,” said Kris, flying up and about to head off.

“What about Kasumi-chan...?” muttered Rimi. 

“We'll... take her with us,” said Kris. “For now, we can't really prepare a burial...”

“I'll pick her up,” said Arisa. With an indiscernible expression, she picked Kasumi's body up and carried her over the shoulder. No one interrupted her as she left the field, followed by the rest.

With Arisa at the front, Kris flew back to Saaya who's lagging behind. “Saaya?” she called.

Saaya looked up and glanced at Kris, tilting her head.

“Once we have some spare time... please talk to Arisa,” they requested. “I fear that... she's suffering the most.”

A determined look upon her pate, Saaya gave a nod. She could feel it too, beneath her acts of strength...

“I will.”

* * *

“Super... Miracle Crystal?”

The remaining Poppinrangers and Kris are now gathered in the white Control Room. Kasumi lay on a bed at the corner, her body draped in white cloth.

“Yes. If a high amount faith is gathered in one place, it can forge a Crystal with powers beyond anything a Crystalizer like me could make... my creator called it a **Super Miracle Crystal** ,” explained Kris.

“How can we gather that faith?” Tae asked promptly.

“That's what I've been thinking,” Kris paced around the room. “If there's a way to rally up the people and gather their faith... we might be able to create that Super Miracle Crystal.”

Suddenly, they heard hurried footsteps breaking through CiRCLE's entrance. Ran led the way downstairs into the white control room.

“Hey! You have to be joking, right?!” Ran shouted the moment she entered the room. “Kasumi... there's no way Kasumi would be—”

But as she caught her breath, she spotted Kasumi. As Afterglow collectively gasped at the sight of her, Ran stormed towards the body and looked at her.

“No... no, _no, no!_ ”

How she wished what she saw wasn't real. It'll be great if all of this was a dream... but alas, Kasumi lay before her, lifeless.

“Dammit!” Ran slammed her fist onto the wall, before turning to the Poppinrangers. “What... what happened to her?!”

“Lord Kaibuzu...” Rimi muttered, her head bowed. “He... he attacked Kasumi, and...”

Himari and Tsugumi lets out a small shriek, Tomoe clenched her fists, and Moca covered her mouth. Ran banged the wall again, her face red with anger, her eyes welling with tears. 

“That _bastard!_ ” she cursed, before running towards Kris. “Give me back my Riser! I have to defeat him!”

“Ran, you can't— your Riser isn't ready yet!” said Kris.

“Then ready it up!!” shouted Ran. “He killed my friend... he killed Kasumi!!”

“Ran!” Arisa stepped in, blocking Ran's way to Kris. “We know that. We also know that currently, none of us are a match against Lord Kaibuzu.”

“You think I care?!” Ran continued to howl, her fiery red eyes glaring at Arisa. “You expect me to sit around and do nothing?!”

“We're not sitting around!” hissed Arisa, “we're making a plan to stop him!”

“I don't care about plans!! He just killed my friend— your friend —then wrecked this whole town you're supposed to protect... and all you're doing is planning?!” 

“Ran-chan, stop...!” Tsugumi whimpered.

But Ran didn't listen. “Do you even care about her?! About protecting this town?! If all you're doing is being sitting ducks, then you certainly do—”

_Smack!_

Before Ran realized it, Arisa's fist rammed her cheek and knocked her to the floor. Everyone gasped at this sight, Saaya stepping forward to stop Arisa if she planned to do more.

Still on the floor, Ran caressed her cheek and looked up to Arisa... who's entire body was shaking. Her breaths looked unsteady, her expression strained.

“You think...” Arisa breathed, her voice tremulous, “you think I don't care... about her...? I... I care about her... more than anyone else in this room...”

Unable to contain it any longer, Arisa broke into tears.

“Why... why did you think that idiot die?! Protecting _me!_ ” she yelled, releasing every last bit of emotion she once stowed away. “I'm... I'm supposed to be her guiding light... but I failed! I couldn't even fill her shoes... I'm not as strong as her...!”

The last few words were spoken in a whimper, before Arisa stormed off from the Control Room. 

She had enough. She just wanted all of this to end now. She doesn't want anything to do with Poppinranger, Lord Kaibuzu or whatever the hell invaded her normal life and turned it into this mess. She just wanted to go home, go to school, practice with her band, do performances... back to her usual routine, without all of this fighting to protect stuff.

But even if she returned to her regular life now... it will never be the same. Kasumi, the person who gave the spark that made her life a lot more interesting... the person who lived and breathed as the heart of Popipa... the person that she loved so dearly, even if she denied it all the time... that person is no longer here. Without her around... what purpose does Arisa have? Does she even have a purpose anymore...?

Arisa found herself on the outskirts of CiRCLE. She didn't even pay attention to where she was going— anywhere away from their attention is fine. Still sobbing hard, she collapsed, slamming the ground with her fist in frustration.

“Why...?” she wailed on and on. “I don't... I don't want you to go... so why...?!”

Unable to think straight, Arisa ripped off the Miracle Riser from her wrist, the Spirit Crystal from Kasumi glinting under the sunlight. 

“It's because of this... I don't want it anymore!!”

With a scream of fury, Arisa smashed her Riser to the ground. It didn't crack... and the catharsis she should've felt didn't came. She just felt nothing but anguish.

“...you know, Kris did say the Riser is made out of the toughest materials.”

Arisa spun around, and saw Saaya standing beside her. She tried to smile... but it was obvious that she's feeling that anguish too.

“You were trying to fill Kasumi's role, right?” she asked.

Arisa deeply exhaled, attempting to steady herself. “She... she died protecting me, so that's the least I could do...” she muttered, getting up to her feet.

Pursing her lips, Saaya plaxedy a hand on Arisa's shoulder. “You can't do that. Kasumi wouldn't want you to do that.”

Arisa raised an eyebrow, turning towards Saaya. “What...?”

“Kasumi is Kasumi, and Arisa is Arisa. You can't fill the role of someone else just like that,” explained Saaya. “Kasumi would've wanted you to stay the way you are before.”

“Stop...!” Arisa wailed, the uneasiness reappearing in her face. “Stop saying that...! _"Kasumi would've wanted this"_ , _"Kasumi wouldn't want that"_... how can we even know what she really wanted?! I don't even know myself...! It's not like we can... ask her directly...”

She covered her face after that, succumbing to her tears again. Saaya lets out a long sigh, stuck for an answer.

“Fine—” she finally spoke up. “We won't know for sure what Kasumi would want... but _I_ want you to stay as yourself.”

Arisa immediately looked up to Saaya, her pupils dilated.

“So does Rimi... and O-Tae,” Saaya went on. “I know, with full confidence... that we all want Popipa to stay the way it is.”

“But... but Popipa won't stay that way anymore!” argued Arisa. “Without Kasumi... Popipa isn't Popipa anymore!”

“No!” Saaya shook her head promptly. “Popipa will always be Popipa, because Kasumi's still here with us!”

“H—huh...?”

“As long as we hold on to our memories with her... she will be with us,” replied Saaya, before casting her gaze aside. “At least... that's what Rimi-rin told me.”

“Rimi...” 

“I didn't know what to make of it the first time... but, now I think I understand,” continued Saaya. “We're suffering this loss together, as Popipa. We lost Kasumi, and the rest of us feel that pain. So we need to overcome this together... keeping our memories with Kasumi close to our hearts.”

Without Arisa expecting it, Saaya wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace.

“Saaya...?!”

“That's why... I won't let you bear this pain alone, Arisa. Let's face it together... let's hold on to those memories together.”

Saaya's embrace... felt a bit different from Kasumi's. Arisa didn't know how to put it... but while Kasumi's warmth was like hugging a small sun, Saaya's warmth was a lot more like hugging her mother— or her grandma, to be exact. Nevertheless, she appreciated it.

“...we'll face it together,” she uttered. “Saaya... thank you.”

“I'm just trying to cheer you up,” Saaya replied. “And I'm one hundred percent certain that this is what Kasumi wanted.”

For the first time since their assault on Lord Kaibuzu's fortress, Arisa cracked a smile.

“Make that two hundred.”

* * *

Back inside the white Control Room, anxiety was written all over the faces of those inside. Ran restlessly paced back and forth, while Rimi twiddled her fingers in worry.

Suddenly, the metal door slid open. Saaya stepped in, followed by...

“Arisa-chan!”

Arisa looked a bit anxious herself, especially after lashing out earlier. She was rather ashamed of it... especially towards Ran.

But Ran immediately approached her the moment she emerged. Though she looked as timid as Arisa... she got close anyway.

“Arisa... I'm sorry,” she apologized, too anxious to make eye contact. “I should've considered your feelings more...”

“Th—that's okay,” Arisa replied just as awkwardly, before clearing her throat to sound a bit more refined. 

“I know... Kasumi means a lot to you. To all of us,” she began. “She... she might be a moron at times, but... she's always someone that you can rely on. When she's there... you can't help but feel a lot more at ease.”

Nods and murmurs of agreement followed, as Arisa took a deep breath before continuing.

“Kasumi has impacted my life as much as it had impacted yours... she started Popipa, she was the one who started the Girls' Band Party... and now, it's her determination that brought us this far as Poppinrangers. So now... for her sake, and for the sake of this world she wanted to protect... we have to defeat Lord Kaibuzu, once and for all.”

There was a shout from Tomoe, along with cheers from the others. Determined smiles adorned each and every single one of them.

Arisa turned towards Saaya, who smiled assuringly and nodded at her. They're in this together.

“Speaking of defeating Lord Kaibuzu,” Kris suddenly swooped into the middle of the room, “I have a plan for that!”

Saaya's eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yup! We're going to rally people's trust by placing these around town!”

They motioned to a pile of highly-advanced speakers on top of the table.

“After we spread it, we're going to request the people to believe in the Poppinrangers. That way... we can gather enough faith to create the Super Miracle Crystal!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” said Arisa. “Let's spread out, and gather their faith!”

“Yeah!”


	18. To Forge a Miracle, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In order to overcome Lord Kaibuzu, the Poppinrangers tried to assemble their trump card.

Hordes of Hives run amok the town, chasing off all the civilians nearby. They're flanked by combat spacecrafts, shooting down laser blasts to the buildings below. Even military forces couldn't stop this mass-scale invasion— the machines are impervious to regular bullets, and the Hives outnumber the available manpower.

However... amidst all of the chaos, a pink spot in the sky suddenly emerged, blasting off beams to cut down and destroy the invading ships. 

“I'll cover you from above!”

Rimi turned her attention towards the Hives below her, blasting off beams after beams towards them and creating a path. Himari ran as fast as she could through the cleared area, looking up towards Rimi as she went.

“You're so cool, Rimi!” she beamed at her, giving a thumbs up.

“Ehehe~ thanks, Himari-chan!”

A spaceship came dashing towards Rimi, shooting off rockets from its pods. Forced to back off, Rimi swerved and swayed through the attack and retaliating with some of her own.

Meanwhile, Himari had arrived at the spot marked by Kris during their planning phase. She picked up an orb-like object— Kris' flying speakers —from her bag and pressed the button on the top. It immediately flew off from her hand and up to the sky.

“Got one down!” said Himari to her earpiece. 

“Wait up, Himari-chan! I'll pick you up!” 

Rimi dashed down from the skies and picked Himari up in a bridal carry.

“Man... if only Kaoru-senpai could see you like this, Rimi!” Himari commented, as the two flew back to CiRCLE. “She would be—”

“Himari-chan, hang on!”

Himari shrieked and held tight as Rimi swerved through an enemy missile from a spacecraft... but it was immediately taken down by a laser blast from the ground.

A blue, two-legged tank stood tall amidst the shopping district, blasting off laser blasts and rockets towards every invader it sees.

“Rimi! I'll handle the rest!” said Tae inside her Electric Landhopper, as it continued to pace through the buildings and shooting whatever it sees.

Under the tank's feet, Moca ran through the shopping district streets, cursing under her breath.

“Why do I have to be down here...? Poor Moca-chan is already tired~” she complained, passing through a set of debris. “Would've been better if I was up there, with everyone else~”

A purple battle helicopter swooped from above, passing by before heading off somewhere else.

“Quit complaining,” rang Ran's voice. “You've put us in a lot of trouble already.”

“But that wasn't me...” groaned Moca, as she encountered a few Hives blocking her way. “Ah~ Moca-chan doesn't mind relieving her muscles, though.”

Perhaps it was muscle memory, or something the maid woman did to her... but Moca could feel her senses heightened, even without her Voidger abilities. She rolled through the Hives' attacks, feinting and kicking them down one by one. The last Hive she had to face was about to run away, but Moca managed to hurl a trash can lid its way, knocking it down.

“Ufufu, I still got it~!” cheered Moca. “Call me Super Moca~”

She took out Kris' flying speaker and pressed the button, letting it fly upwards.

“Alright, speaker number two is up~” said Moca afterwards. “Tae-san, please pick me up~”

Tae's Landhopper arrived immediately, stepping carefully between the buildings before bowing its head— where the cockpit is. Moca leapt towards it and got into the cockpit.

Meanwhile, the purple helicopter— Arisa's Love Hoverstriker —made its descent near the railway station. From it, Saaya, Tomoe and Tsugumi leapt out from the helicopter and headed towards the station while Arisa took off again. 

“Come at me! **Weapon Call!** ”

Saaya called her disk shield, the Golden Aegis, and tossed it towards the pack of Hives infesting the station. It bounced off each and every one of them, knocking them down as they got hit by it. With the shield clearing their path, the three continued their way into the station's entrance.

“Tsugu!” Tomoe shouted, as she roundhoused two Hives trying to jump on her.

“Yeah!” replied Tsugumi, dodging a Hive's claw swipe and releasing Kris' speaker into the air.

Tomoe threw a Hive towards Saaya, who tossed her shield to slice it off in half. “Next one, let's go! **Heartbeat Flashzapper, come!** ”

A yellow space shuttle came dashing down from the sky at once. The three hopped onto the cockpit, Saaya taking the wheel to zip through the sky and into their next spot.

It didn't take long— within seconds, they had landed on Hanasakigawa. They dropped off from the shuttle and stormed into the school building, a group of Hives on their way.

“We'll hold 'em off! Tomoe-chan, go!” shouted Tsugumi, as she and Saaya began fighting off the Hives. Tomoe ran through the open path and into the schoolyard, letting the fourth speaker to fly to the sky.

“Last one is on you two! Ran, Arisa, we're counting on ya!” 

* * *

Elsewhere, the Love Hoverstriker was chased by a number of spacecrafts. While Arisa managed to swerve between the strikes thrown at her, she couldn't drop off and leave her helicopter... therefore, she had no choice.

“Ran!” she shouted. “I need to take care of these guys... you can take care of it yourself, right?!”

“Yeah!” Ran nodded. 

She hopped off from the helicopter and onto the outskirts of the shopping mall... but her way is blocked off by Hives.

“Dammit... why couldn't we just drop these off in the air?!” complained Ran, immediately regretting her decision.

“Didn't Kris tell you? It needs to charge its cloak before taking off to the sky!” rang Arisa's voice. “If we take it off midair, the enemy would've seen it before it could cloak!”

“Quit complaining, Ran~” teased Moca.

“Shut up!” growled Ran. She then engaged the Hives, starting off with a judo toss on one of them before dodging another's attack and landing a double punch on them. As she dealt with the Hives... she could hear a whimpering from afar. Shaking off from her foes, she found...

“Eve?!”

Eve's left leg was bleeding as she lay under a tree. She had bandaged it herself— very sloppily, because blood still poured in some parts.

“R—Ran-san...?! You're... still out here?!” she yelped, as Ran approached her and checked her wounds.

“That's my line!” Ran reprimanded her. “You shouldn't be out here!”

“I... I was trying to buy my friends some time— we were shopping before the attack happened... I told them to run, but the monsters wounded me before I could escape myself...”

“You really are something else, Eve...” Ran clicked her tongue, before tapping her earpiece. “Arisa, can you get down? I have an injured civilian here.”

“No good! Still trying to shake these guys off!” replied Arisa.

“I'm free!” Saaya interjected. “Be there in a flash!”

As she said so, the horde of Hives finally found the two again. Ran massaged her neck, before turning to Eve... and spotted something from her bag.

“Eve... can I borrow your sword again?” she requested. 

Eve furrowed her eyebrows. “Y—yes... but "again"? What did you mean by that?”

“It means I'm borrowing your bushido spirit again,” replied Ran with a smile... as Eve's eyes widened with a gasp. She handed over the wooden sword with the white handle immediately.

“You're... are you really...?” she babbled in disbelief. 

Ran neither denied nor confirmed it, walking towards the horde of Hives with the wooden sword in her hand. At once, the sword was bathed in white light... and transformed itself into the white sleek katana, the True Warrior's Blade. 

“Heh, so it's still here...” she smirked, turning towards the Hives with her blade raised. “Come!”

She dashed towards the horde of Hives and started cutting them down one by one. It was a little difficult to wield without her Crimson Revenger powers... but it was enough to lay the slaughter upon all of the Hives.

“The last one... go!” 

She released the fifth speaker into the skies above... and now, all five speakers are airborne.

“Alright! All five speakers are up!” said Arisa. “Everyone, let's gather up in CiRCLE!”

* * *

“Is Eve alright?”

That was the first thing Ran asked when she arrived.

Saaya nodded at once. “She's safe in the emergency shelter. For now... we need to focus on Lord Kaibuzu.”

“Yeah...” Ran agreed, as the two headed off towards the white Control Room.

Once everyone are gathered, Kris made a few adjustments on their computer... before unveiling a microphone at the center of the room.

“Well, then... who would do the honors?” asked Kris.

Ran was the first one to step forward. “Arisa. You should go.”

Arisa's eyes widen at once, her cheeks turning red. “E—eh?! Wh—why me?!” she babbled.

“Isn't it obvious? You did a pretty good speech earlier,” replied Tae innocently.

“Th—that's a spur from the moment!!” yelled Arisa. 

“Honestly, I don't think anyone else fits the task more,” Saaya added, giving Arisa a meaningful smile.

“Yeah! Arisa-chan, come on!” encouraged Rimi.

“F—fine, fine! I'll do it!”

Though hot on the ears, Arisa approached the microphone. She swallowed hard... before Kris gave the signal, and she began to speak.

“E—everyone...! Everyone! C, can you hear me?”

Marina stormed in from upstairs and into the Control Room, giving a thumbs up towards everyone in the room. The speakers _do_ work.

“Um, I... I need all of you to pay attention, please!” Arisa went on. “I'm... I'm a part of the Poppinrangers. I know that things look dire right now, but... please, listen to me closely!”

It's as if the whole town stopped making a sound. They all listened to what Arisa had to say, ringing from every corner they could hear from.

“The name of this invading army's leader... is Lord Kaibuzu. And today, he's trying to take away the world we love. Of course... we can't have that! So... the Poppinrangers are going to fight hard against him... but we need your help as well!”

The others inside the Control Room bit their lips, hoping to God that this worked as Kris' creator hypothesized.

“So please... put all of your faith in us, because we're going to need it! We... the Poppinrangers, we can't fight alone... please! We need all of your faith and trust on us! We need all of you to believe... that we can overcome Lord Kaibuzu!”

Arisa didn't know what to say after that, stepping away from the microphone. That... should be enough, right?

A small spark of light suddenly emerged before them. The light slowly grew larger and larger with each passing second, the light it emitted becoming brighter as well.

“Super... Miracle Crystal! Wowzers! The hypothesis is proven true!” Kris declared excitedly.

The light became so bright that everyone had to shield their eyes. Its presence felt so overwhelming... yet at the same time, comforting.

“Hey, is the light... flying away?”

It didn't take long for the others to realize that. The light before them started to ascend, then moved somewhere...

“Kasumi's body...?”

Arisa promptly left where she stood and dashed towards where they laid Kasumi's body. The light shimmered above her, before it slowly made its descent her body. Somehow, the light penetrated through her body— and now her whole body was bathed in that light, as it started to float up to the air.

Kasumi, completely surrounded with light, suddenly flipped the trajectory of her body, descending to the ground on her feet. Then, as the light died down... slowly, very slowly, she opened her eyes.

“K—Kasumi...?!”

At first, Kasumi appeared to be delirious, as if she was just woke up from a long nap. Upon seeing the sight of her friends, however... she raised both eyebrows.

“Eh...? Everyone's... gathered here? What— what happened?”

That voice... that was Kasumi's voice. There's no questioning it anymore.

The whole room stared at Kasumi in absolute disbelief, as if they had just seen a ghost— which is a fair assumption, seeing as she lay lifeless mere minutes ago. Kasumi looked just as perplexed as the rest of them, though for entirely different reasons.

“Um... guys?” she called, furrowing her brows. “Why are you all staring at me like that? Ah, don't tell me— something's funny on my face, isn't it?!”

“Kasumi...” Arisa approached her, cold shock still etched on her face. “It's... really you?”

“Eh?” Kasumi tilted her head. “O—of course it's me! Who else could it possibly be?”

“I... I can't believe it...”

Slowly, Arisa's eyes welled up with tears... which only amplified Kasumi's concerns.

“Ehhh?! Arisa?! Why are you crying?! Did I say something wrong?! What—”

But before she knew it, Arisa already jumped onto her and wrapped her in a tight embrace.

“You... you idiot...! Don't ever leave me again...!” she whimpered through strained breaths.

“But... I never left?” replied Kasumi. She didn't mind the affection... but she needed some context. “G—guys? Why are you guys crying too?!”

The other three had already stormed in and hugged her too, loudly weeping along with Arisa.

“Kasumi... you're back...!” wailed Saaya.

“B—back from where?!” Kasumi stammered. “I haven't been anywhere?! Someone please explain...!”

* * *

“Oh... I see!”

It was fifteen minutes after that impromptu huddle, enough time for Kasumi to be filled in with all of the information.

“It seems the Super Miracle Crystal chose you to be the host, Kasumi!” said Kris. “To think that it has the ability to give life to their host... that's impressive!”

“That means I owe everyone my life, huh?” uttered Kasumi, glancing over her Miracle Riser. The Super Miracle Crystal is now rested on the very center, where her regular Miracle Crystal used to be. 

“Kris, does this mean we have a chance against Lord Kaibuzu?” asked Tae.

“Indeed!” Kris replied excitedly. “It should exceed his current power!”

Suddenly... their cheerings were interrupted by a static.

“So... the Poppinrangers decided to rally people's faith? How foolish.”

“Th—that's... Lord Kaibuzu!” Rimi yelled.

“He hijacked the speakers...?!” Arisa deducted.

“It's useless, whatever you're planning... I've already killed one of you, and now I won't hesitate killing the rest. I will soon descend upon my Buzz Force... and lay waste to this world.”

The static cut off. The Poppinrangers turned to each other with determined looks.

“This is our chance,” said Tae.

Kasumi nodded. “Let's show him... the power of everyone's faith!”


	19. Finale! An Unforgettable Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the final battle.

Disregarding the fleet of spacecrafts over them, the sky is perfectly clear today. As if light had retuned in their midst, the summer sun shone brightly than it had been before.

And for Arisa... her light certainly had returned.

“I heard you were the one cheering them on when I was gone?”

Under the bright skyline, Kasumi and Arisa sat on a bench just right outside CiRCLE. They hadn't got time for themselves since Kasumi's miraculous return... until now.

“I—it's nothing... I was just trying to uplift the mood...” 

Arisa's gaze shifted away from Kasumi, her lips trembling. Of course she couldn't directly admit it— that's how Arisa works, even with all the bravery she gathered all this time. 

“That''s wonderful!” Kasumi chirped. “Does that mean you're becoming everyone else's guiding star too?”

“N—no!” denied Arisa with more force. “I... I can't be someone like that... you fit that role better.”

“Eh? Me... a guiding star for everyone else?”

Arisa shook her head, a small smile curled upon her lips. “I guess not a guiding star... but a bright star that brings happiness to those around it.”

Almost immediately, she regretted saying that... because Kasumi started getting all over her— metaphorically, of course.

“Wow! Arisa, you really think that?! Do I bring happiness to you?!” she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.

“Th, that's not what I—”

But Kasumi had already glomped on Arisa, giggling happily. “I'm so happy you said that, Arisa!”

“Hey, let me go!!” Arisa shrieked angrily, trying to wriggle herself out from Kasumi's grasp. It seems they're back on their routine... though, if she's being honest, Arisa wouldn't have it any other way.

After latching onto the other for a while, Kasumi began to speak up.

“...I really am glad, you know. I'm glad that you're here with me, even through all of this.”

Her voice was so tranquil and calming... Arisa didn't expect that kind of tone would come from her. She held her arm, settling into her grasp.

“M—me too...” she replied after a moment's hesitation. “When you were— erm, gone... I tried forcing myself to let you go... b—but I just couldn't.”

As Arisa's eyes drooped to the floor, she could feel Kasumi's comforting wrap tightening. 

“But Saaya told me that, as long as I held onto my memories with you... you'd still be here,” Arisa went on. “So I tried doing that... and somehow, you came back as more than just memories.”

“Hold onto our memories, huh...?” Kasumi parroted, before her eyes lit up again. “In that case, let's continue making those memories! So that we'll be in each others' sides in case we got separated again!”

“Geez, you're putting that so lightly...” Arisa groaned. “But... yeah. I guess there's no harm in doing that.”

“Oh, I know! We'll start with this!”

“What are you—”

Kasumi daringly swooped onto Arisa's face, landing a soft peck on her cheek. Understandably... Arisa shrieked at once, her face red as tomato.

“There! That should be an unforgettable memory, right?” Kasumi beamed, relieving Arisa from her grasps and standing up.

“A—at least give me a warning first!!” Arisa yelled, unable to properly process the situation.

“That would make it less memorable!” denied Kasumi. “Anyway, let's go! Everyone's waiting for us!”

As if ignoring Arisa's panic, Kasumi strode away while giggling.

“K—Kasumi!!” Arisa screamed from the top of her lungs, chasing the other. “Get back here, you idiot!!”

* * *

“Destroy every last thing you see!”

At the midst of the city's destruction, Lord Kaibuzu stood tall along with his henchmen. Hives and Buzzes surrounding him continue to wreak havoc wherever they see. Any form of life there was non-existent— most people who hadn't succumbed to this assault had already been evacuated.

“Those Poppinranger fools should appear by now...” said Lord Kaibuzu, eagerly anticipating their arrival. 

Sure enough, four figure slowly emerged from the smoke and mist of destruction. Tae, Saaya, Rimi and Arisa fearlessly approached Lord Kaibuzu's forces, much to the amusement of the galactic conqueror.

“Prepared to meet your doom, Poppinrangers?” mocked Lord Kaibuzu. “You'll fall, along with this world you're trying so hard to protect!”

“No! Because you're the one going to lose here!” declared Tae.

Lord Kaibuzu laughed. “There are only four of you— you think you have a chance?”

“Make that five!”

From behind the four, Kasumi suddenly stepped in. As they hoped, Lord Kaibuzu completely lost his cool.

“Wh—what?! But I've killed you... you shouldn't have been here!!” 

“Looks like you've underestimated the power of people's faith, Lord Kaibuzu!” Kasumi shouted. “Thanks to them... we're going to stop you!”

“Insolent fools... your lowly faith stands no chance against me!”

“We'll see about that! Everyone, let's go!”

“Yeah!”

The five Poppinrangers stood by each others' side, their right hand raised.

“Sparkling Red!”

“Bunny Blue!”

“Beating Yellow!”

“Chocolate Pink!”

“Natural Purple!”

“ **Miracle Change!** ”

Bright rays of colorful lights shot off from the five, dispersing and revealing the five Poppinrangers in their outfits.

“Let's make a sparkling miracle! **Super Miracle Change!** ”

Kasumi tapped her Super Miracle Crystal again. Once more, her body was engulfed in a light— this time, it was blindlingly white. The light slowly dispersed, revealing...

“What...?!”

Kasumi's Poppinranger outfit is now dominantly white, the only traces of red being the flame patterns on her hands and small studs of star patterns on her chest forming a constellation. Her suit is also fitted with a white cape, with more of those small red stars.

As her friends drew a collective gasp, Kasumi thrusted her fist to the air. “This is amazing! Let's call this... **Miracle Sparkling Red**!”

Not a single trace of his confidence remaining, Lord Kaibuzu was rooted to the spot. “Miracle... Sparkling Red?!”

“Now...” Kasumi pointed towards Lord Kaibuzu and his forces, “our sparkling and heart-pounding feeling is going to stop you today! **Hoshi Sentai, Poppinranger!** ”

“Damn you... Buzz Force, charge!”

At once, the Poppinrangers and the Buzz Force made their way against each other.

“Weapon Call: **Michelle Armor**!”

Rimi took off to the skies and blasted a powerful laser beam that vaporized a lot of Hives at once, opening a path for the others to engage. While the other Rangers began fighting off the Hives and Buzzes, Kasumi made a beeline straight towards Lord Kaibuzu, effortlessly eliminating all the foes trying to stand in her way. As a response, Lord Kaibuzu flew towards her with his lance raised, thrusting it her way. Kasumi rolled to the left at the very last second, raising her arm high up to the sky.

“Weapon Call: **Starlight Slicer**!”

A shining red longsword with a star-shaped hilt emerged from her hand, its five tips decorated with five, different colored crystals. 

“ **Glow Flash!** ”

The sword's blade glew an orange light, Kasumi leapt forward and pounced Lord Kaibuzu, who narrowly blocked it with his lance. He tried to counteract this with a stab move, but Kasumi was too fast for him— she disappeared in a blink of an eye before reappearing behind Lord Kaibuzu and slashed his back, sending him tumbling away.

“Damn... damn you!!” Lord Kaibuzu howled with rage, shooting off multiple sparks of lightning bolts at her.

“ **Rose Guard!** ”

A calming blue light flashed from the blade this time. Kasumi stabbed the ground, letting her sword project a shining blue energy barrier before her. It protected her from the lightning bolts, allowing her to raise her blade again for a counter attack.

“ **Happy Break!** ”

This time, the blade shone a bright yellow. Kasumi pointed it towards Lord Kaibuzu, and the blade shot off a large yellow beam of energy. Lord Kaibuzu flew up to dodge the beam, retaliating with a bolt of lightning.

“ **Pastel Slice!** ”

Her blade shining a green light, Kasumi slashed the air multiple times, launching gales of green that cleaved through the lightning bolt and hit Lord Kaibuzu. He crashed to the ground, struggling to get back up.

“Urgh... how can this be?!”

“This is the power of everyone's faith!” declared Kasumi, pointing her sword towards him. “You've lost, Lord Kaibuzu!”

“Lost...? Don't make me laugh!” Lord Kaibuzu spat. “I won't lose... to the likes of you!”

Suddenly, Lord Kaibuzu's body emitted a strange green light. He roared, seemingly in anguish... and then his Buzzes and Hives glew green as well.

“Become one with me, Buzz Force!” he roared, before absorbing all of his henchmen into his body at once. His skin color changed from yellow to green, and his outer skeleton grew sharper.

The other four Rangers gather at Kasumi's side as the powered-up Lord Kaibuzu shot off stray lightning bolts from his body.

“Come... I'll defeat all of you!”

“This might not be as easy as we thought...” groaned Arisa, tapping Kasumi's shoulder. “Well, better give it our best.”

“Yeah!” Kasumi nodded determinedly. “For everyone's sake... we have to win!”

The others nodded as well. Kasumi raised her Riser bracelet into the air, emitting four light orbs from her Super Miracle Crystal. The lights enter the others' Miracle Crystal, granting them a portion of the Crystal's power.

“One last time... let's go!”

With an unified shout, the Poppinrangers charged towards Lord Kaibuzu, who swung his lance to launch a series of green electric shockwaves.

“Weapon Call: **Golden Aegis**!” shouted Saaya, calling forth her shield and stepping forward to block the shockwaves. 

Once they're close, Tae leapt high to the air and charged a massive yellow energy disk, hurling it towards Lord Kaibuzu. The disk sliced through him, knocking him backwards as he countered with a lightning bolt. 

“I won't let you!” shouted Rimi, getting between Tae and the lightning bolt. “ **Full Power Blast!”**

She shot off a twin energy blast from her shoulder cannons, dispersing the lightning strike. 

Clear for attack, Kasumi and Arisa dashed towards Lord Kaibuzu, the latter stretched her arm forward. “Weapon Call: **Fusion Starry Axe**!”

An axe that resembles Kasumi's Starry Axe emerged on Arisa's hand, though the blade is colored purple instead of red. 

“Kasumi!” she called at once. Together, they leapt up with their weapons aloft, landing a consecutive slash that landed on Lord Kaibuzu. The foe was sent reeling backwards, dropping his lance.

“Im... possible...!” he spat, “I... I need more power...!”

“No matter how much power you gather, you'll never beat us! Everyone's trust... they're stronger than whatever you can gather!” shouted Kasumi.

“Enough... ENOUGH OF THIS TRUST!!”

Lord Kaibuzu glew green again as he slowly grew in size. Eventually, he towered over them, about fifty feet in height.

“I'll crush it all!! All of it!!” he roared.

“He's really angry,” Tae commented. “Let's call our Poppin' Engines.”

“Uh-huh!” Kasumi nodded briskly, raising her sword high. “Everyone, follow my lead! **Super Miracle Call: Starbeat Warrior!** ”

Kasumi's Super Miracle Crystal glew brightly again, and a white humanoid robot dropped from the sky and landed before the giant Lord Kaibuzu. The robot had a yellow star pattern strewn across its chest and a face covered with a visor.

“ **Spirit Call: Luminous Slider!** ”

Tae called the left leg— it was a pastel green leg part with jet boosters and a retractable blade on the feet.

“ **Spirit Call: Aspect Guard!** ”

Saaya called forth the left arm part, a dark blue arm with a massive, rose-shaped shield attached to its forearm.

“ **Spirit Call: Scarlet Firestomper!** ”

Rimi summoned the right leg, a gleaming red leg part with boosters and a flamethrower on the palm of the feet.

“ **Miracle Call: Happy Magical Cannon!** ”

Lastly, Arisa called a giant yellow tubular cannon for the right arm. The Engine parts merged themselves with Starbeat Warrior, forming a new Poppin' Engine that stood just as tall as the enlarged Lord Kaibuzu.

The five Poppinrangers hopped onto their Poppin' Engine, ready to battle.

“ _ **Kiseki Gattai Initial Breakthrough**! The ultimate matching Poppin' Engine!_” rang Kris' voice.

“Let's finish this!”

With full confidence, Kasumi summoned a giant version of her Starlight Slicer. Initial Breakthrough grabbed it with its left hand and charged forward. It clashed blades with him at once, Lord Kaibuzu blocking the strikes with his lance.

“Have some of this!” shouted Arisa, as Initial Breakthrough pushed the lance away and blasted Lord Kaibuzu with its cannon. He was flung to the ground but managed to recover, sending an electric shock towards the robot.

“Uagh!”

Initial Breakthrough tumbled to the ground as a result. Lord Kaibuzu wasted no time to lay waste upon the robot, pouncing it and stabbing it multiple times. 

“No... get off!” 

Rimi focused all of her strength, as Initial Breakthrough launched a powerful boosted kick onto Lord Kaibuzu. He was launched to the sky, as the robot launched another powerful cannon blast that sends Lord Kaibuzu flying further away, tumbling to the ground with a ground-shaking crash.

The two towering titans got back to their feet, the wreckage of the town becoming their battle arena. They circled each other, waiting for the first strike to come. Eventually, Lord Kaibuzu drew the first straw and lunged towards Initial Breakthrough, his lance aloft. With Tae's swift precision, Initial Breakthrough landed a kick with its right leg, the blade on its feet slashing Lord Kaibuzu's chest and knocking him down once more. However, Lord Kaibuzu quickly rolled to the side and shot another electric surge at the robot. It connected, allowing him to follow up with a quick slash. Once again, Initial Breakthrough was forced back a few feet, but it managed to shoot more blasts towards its foe.

“Not a chance!!” Lord Kaibuzu roared, running towards Initial Breakthrough and parrying all the blasts along the way, before attempting another slash that the robot had to block.

Arisa clenched her fist, using all of her power to resist. “He's even tougher than before...!”

“W—we can't give up now!” encouraged Saaya, as Initial Breakthrough managed to push back Lord Kaibuzu.

“Arrogant fools... every single one of you! **Final Sting!** ”

Lord Kaibuzu raised his lance high, and a bolt of lightning came down upon it, charging it with a massive green surge of electricity.

“That's not going to work again!” Kasumi exclaimed. “Everyone, one final push!”

“Yeah!”

Initial Breakthrough raised its sword high. The blade flashed a prismatic light, gathering every ounce of the Poppinrangers' energy.

“It's over!!”

Lord Kaibuzu fired the massive lightning bolt towards the robot.

“ **Quintuple Ray!** ”

Inital Breakthrough responded by firing a flashing beam. The two energy beams clashed at once, the sheer force of the contact blasting over everything on its vicinity. The two titans pushed as hard as they could, as if they're playing reverse tug-of-war with their energy beams.

“We... won't lose to you!”

Slowly, Initial Breakthrough managed to step forward, pushing through Lord Kaibuzu's blast. On the other hand, Lord Kaibuzu struggled to maintain his grip on his lance, losing to the robot bit by bit.

“No... no!! This... shouldn't be happening! I... I was granted power... I can't lose!!”

But to no avail. Initial Breakthrough's beam overcame Lord Kaibuzu's. His body was slowly vaporized by the beam... and as the light dissipated, he was no more.

Initial Breakthrough stood silently before the wrecked town, watching over where Lord Kaibuzu once stood. It took a while for the reality to settle into the Poppinrangers... and for them to process it.

“We... we did it!!” Kasumi's cheerful yell broke the silence, followed with everyone else's grateful cheers.

“We actually beat him... I can't believe it...!” Saaya began to weep happily.

“L—look! The spaceships are retreating!” Rimi pointed to the skies. Lord Kaibuzu's fleet retreated back to space once they realized their master has been defeated.

“And... and the people on the ground...!” said Arisa through happy tears.

_“They did it!! The Poppinrangers did it!!”_

_“Whoo!! They've won!!”_

Loud cheers and clapping suddenly came as more people emerged from their evacuation sites and into the open. They adorned happy smiles upon their faces, yelling their supports and joyful remarks to the Poppinrangers' success.

They did it.


	20. Cheering Everyone is Our Job!

“I see...”

Not far from where the final battle between Poppinrangers and Lord Kaibuzu had taken place, the woman in the maid outfit stood. Her appearance was now clear under the sunlight— she had a long, deep purple hair, and a pair of thin-rimmed glasses.

She had watched the entire battle unfold closely, even going as far as writing down things on her notebook.

“So... the power of faith and miracles won in the end,” she muttered to herself. “That's one experiment down. Next...”

She flipped over the pages on her notebook and stopped at one.

“Ah... this should be interesting. The power of revenge, against the power of responsibilities... perhaps I can draw some conclusions on this as well.”

A thin smirk emerged from her lips.

“ _Let the next experiment begin._ ”

* * *

**A month later...**

Livehouse CiRCLE was jam-packed with crowds of people once more. They're waiting for the livehouse stage gates to be open, animatedly chatting to their friends or texting on their phones. 

Meanwhile, at the backstage...

“Afterglow! Where the hell is Afterglow?!”

It was chaos at the backstage. Perhaps since it has been a long time since their last performance, Poppin'Party had lost most of their groove in handling a concert. Still, some things never change...

“Arisa, they're still changing,” said Tae, as level-headed as usual. “Calm down and drink a tea.”

“I can't calm down!” Arisa fussily yelped, pacing back and forth. “Ah, dammit... I can't believe I'm this nervous.”

“I feel you,” Saaya laughed cheekily. “It's been so long since our last concert, the nerves are coming back.”

“Yeah...” Rimi timidly nodded. “Even Kasumi-chan is nervous...”

Kasumi sat cross-legged at the corner of the waiting room, her Random Star placed on top of her lap. She closed her eyes and mouthed incoherent words.

Arisa rolled her eyes, having some of her panic shaved off. “What in the world is she doing...?”

“Meditating,” Kasumi replied all of a sudden.

“Th—that's not how meditation works!!”

The door to the room swung open, and Afterglow stepped in.

“Ah, you guys!” Saaya smiled, standing up to greet the other band.

“Is it time already?” asked Ran. Meanwhile, Tomoe immediately slouched herself onto a couch and Moca assaulted the pile of pastries.

“Should be... ah, look!”

Marina peered from the backstage curtains. “Popipa, you're up!” she called.

“Oh!!” Kasumi immediately stood up from her 'meditation'. “Let's go!”

“That fast...?”

The five Popipa members gathered in a huddle, piling their hands together. Silver bracelets briefly emerged on their wrists, disappearing after a moment.

“Alright! Cheering everyone up is our job! So, we have to give it our all! Let's get out there, and make sure they have fun!” said Kasumi. 

“Yeah!” the others cheered.

“Let's go!”

“Po-pi-pa! Pi-po-pa! Po-pi-pa-pa-pi-po-pa!”

With their huddle completed, Popipa headed off to the stage. There were cheers the moment they stepped in, of fans and friends eagerly anticipating their return.

Kasumi held her Random Star tightly, smiling from ear to ear as she watched the crowd before her. After all of the fighting she had done thus far... this felt like coming home.

She glanced over to her bandmates, who smiled at her and nodded. Thus, she took a deep breath, and...

“Good evening, everyone! We are... Poppin'Party!”

Loud cheers followed that introduction, lightsticks waving on the air.

“We're so happy that we can perform after all the things that happened,” Kasumi began. “We know it has been tough for all of you lately... so that's why, we're gonna try to cheer you up with our music!”

More cheers followed. 

“Alright, let's begin with a new song! To encourage all of you... _Poppin Fight!_ One, two, one two three...!”


	21. Extra.1 - My Big Sister is A Superhero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when Popipa was about to celebrate Kasumi's birthday, they were called to action once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to Popipa's sparkling vocalist, Toyama Kasumi! Here's a tiny bonus chapter to celebrate her birthday.

It was rather unusual for Asuka to spend a long time inside a gift shop, but this was a very special day. She intently browsed through the aisles, looking for something that would suit as a gift.

“Asuka-chan, look!”

She turned at once and saw Rokka, pointing towards one of the items on the shelves. It was a massive pillow in the shape of a star.

“Hm... I think Big Sis already has one of those,” Asuka responded, heaving a sigh. “Who knew finding a gift for her would be so hard...?”

“That's just shows how much you care about her!” Rokka beamed. “By the way, why are you looking for the gift today? Wouldn't it be better if you bought it... yesterday?”

“I would... but I won't be able to keep it a secret to her. We share rooms, you know.”

“Ehh?! You share rooms with Kasumi-senpai?!”

“It's not that big of a deal...” replied Asuka, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, help me choose between these two.”

“Ah— right!”

The two continued their search for Kasumi's gift... but unbeknownst to them, just right outside the gift shop, a blue slimy liquid dripped out from the sewer shafts and started to flow.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Ryuseido...

“Surprise!”

Pops of confetti greeted Kasumi as she entered the basement, much to her delight. All four of her bandmates gathered around her, each wearing cone hats and big smiles.

“Whoaaaaa! You all remembered my birthday!” Kasumi gasped, grinning from ear to ear. 

“Of course! Arisa even kept it marked on her calendars,” said Tae.

“H—hey, you don't have to bring that up!!” Arisa yelled. 

“Anyway, let's go for the cake!” Saaya beamed, gesturing towards the star-shaped cake on top of the table, covered in white cream and red icing— just like the colors of Miracle Sparkling Red.

“Cake!!” Kasumi exclaimed, dashing towards the birthday cake with unbridled excitement. Not just cake, other foods are also placed on the table. Pastries, pizzas, candies— all party meals tailored to Kasumi's tastes.

“You guys are the best!” she chirped, looking like she couldn't get happier than this.

“Blow the candle and make a wish, Kasumi-chan!” said Rimi, the four watching Kasumi with eager anticipation.

Kasumi nodded, turning back to her birthday cake. A small candle was perched at the center of it, the tip already ignited for her. At once, she leaned close to the candle, close her eyes for a moment... then opened them and blew the candles. Her friends cheered and clapped.

“Now, let's have some of this ca—”

_Beep, beep!_

They haven't heard that sound for a while... and it certainly shook them. Reflectively, they all glanced towards the Miracle Riser on their wrist.

“ _Emergency! A monster has been sighted,_ ” rang the voice of Kris. “ _It might be a Buzz that remained on Earth, trying to continue Lord Kaibuzu's plans!_ ”

Saaya frowned. “Talk about poor timing.”

“Not only that, we still have to deal with monsters...” groaned Arisa.

“That's okay! Plus, we can save the cake for later!” Kasumi chirped, even though she already dreaded the thought. “Come on!”

The others nodded, departing from the basement.

* * *

As plenty of civilians scrambled to safety, a blue figure stood before them, shooting off blobs of liquid goo from its hand. It appeared to be a humanoid figure, though its entire body is translucent and looked like jelly.

“Stop right there!”

The jelly monster turned around to see the five girls heading its way.

“Let's do this, everyone! Just like always!” Kasumi ordered them.

“ **Miracle Change!** ”

In a flash of light, they transformed into Poppinrangers. As a response, the jelly monster split itself into five, each copy looked exactly like one another.

“It can multiply?!” Rimi gasped.

“Then we just have to beat them one by one!” said Arisa. 

The five charged towards the jelly monsters, each one engaging with one copy. Kasumi called forth the Starry Axe to her hand, landing blow after blow towards the monster she faced. However...

“What...?!”

The marks Kasumi left when landing her slashes on the monster slowly repaired itself, as if it never got hit at all. The monster replied with a hard punch straight towards Kasumi's face, knocking her back a few feet. 

As Kasumi regained her senses, she saw the others struggling with their own copies as well. This wouldn't be easy...

“Rokka, come on...!”

Suddenly, she heard a cry from the distance. That voice seemed very familiar... turning to where she heard it, her fears were immediately realized.

“Aa-chan...?!” she whimpered. Asuka appeared to be supporting an unconscious Rokka out from a wrecked gift shop, unknowing of the monster they're fighting here.

But the jelly monster knew, as it moved away from Kasumi and made her way towards the two.

“No!” Kasumi yelled, running as fast as she could while raising his right hand. “ **Super Miracle Change!** ”

A blinding flash of light surrounded her body, Kasumi zipped from where she was to where Asuka stood in the blink of an eye, knocking away the monster with the sheer force of her transformation. The light died down, revealing the majestic white and red suit of Miracle Sparkling Red.

At once, Kasumi turned around in panic, her big sister senses kicking in. “Aa-chan, you're alright?!”

Perhaps that was too much, because Asuka could see through her. “Big... Sis...?!” she gawked, clearly wasn't expecting to hear her voice coming from the Poppinranger.

Kasumi immediately realized her mishap upon hearing that. Before she could clarify anything, however... the jelly monster had charged at her again.

“Get Rock out of here!” she urged, deciding to drop the charade. She then faced the monster again and raised her arm high.

“Weapon Call: **Starlight Slicer**!”

A red longsword with a star-shaped hilt emerged on her hand, Kasumi wasted no time to engage with the jelly monster. She landed slash after slash on the monster, but it kept regenerating itself.

“ **Happy Break!** ” she shouted as a last resort, pointing her sword towards the monster and shooting a massive yellow beam from its tip. It seemed to vaporize the monster at first, but...

“Whoa!” 

Saaya and her copy of the jelly monster appeared in front of Kasumi, engaged in their own battle. Suddenly, the monster split itself in two, recreating the copy Kasumi just defeated.

“It just keeps on doing that!” Kasumi groaned. “How are we going to beat it...?!”

“Maybe... if we beat all of the copies at the same time, it won't have the chance to multiply?” deducted Saaya.

“That could work...!” rang Arisa's shouts, busy fighting her jelly monster copy. “But how can we coordinate our attacks?!”

“We don't have to if they're all gathered in one place...” Saaya muttered, deeply thinking as the two monsters made a beeline towards them. “Ah! O-Tae— I mean, Blue!”

Tae kicked her monster copy away and dashed in front of the two, kicking the other two jelly monsters. “Yeah?”

“Can you use your speed to circle around them?” asked Saaya at once. “You might be able to trap them that way.”

“Leave it to me!” Tae nodded. She then zipped away and circled around the two jelly monsters in full speed, trapping them inside a cyclone.

“I'll get the rest!” said Kasumi. “ **Glow Flash!** ”

In a flash of light, Kasumi warped from where she stood to the monster Tae fought earlier. Grabbing it, Kasumi then warped to Rimi's foe, then to Arisa's, bringing all three of them with her. Finally, she warped to the air and tossed the three into the center of the cyclone Tae made, rounding all five of them in one place. As Kasumi landed to the ground, the other three gathered by her side. They gave their energy towards Kasumi, who charged it in her sword.

“Blue, now!” she shouted. Tae stopped her circling and ran back to her four teammates.

“ **Super Quintuple Strike!** ”

Kasumi slashed the air, launching a prismatic gale that cleaved through the five jelly monsters, destroying them in one swoop.

“Phew, all done...” Arisa huffed, as the five reverted back to their human forms.

“Well, then! Let's go get that cake!” said Kasumi, back to her happy-go-lucky self.

Grimacing, Saaya lets out a laugh. “Is cake the only thing you've been thinking about all this time?”

“I mean, it looks delicious!” argued Kasumi.

“I agree. I want the cake too,” Tae approved.

“Hehe, I'm curious about it myself,” said Rimi. “It must be really sweet and tasty...”

“Ah, Rimi! You're making me want the cake even more!” Kasumi scolded her, pouting slightly.

While the five are still fixated on Kasumi's birthday cake, a figure slowly approached them.

“Big Sis.”

Kasumi turned around and saw Asuka, a somewhat stern look on her face. She gulped, remembering that she might've revealed her identity as a Poppinranger to her.

“Ah... Aa-chan?”

Asuka stepped closer, still looking stern. “So this is what you've been doing these past few months?”

Kasumi could feel those reprimanding words slapping her back and forth. She looked to the ground with a sorrowful frown, and nodded.

Surprisingly, Asuka curled a smile on her lips. “So... my big sister is a superhero now. I guess... that's really cool.” 

“Eh...?”

“Man, if Ako or Rokka knew about this... they would've lost their minds,” muttered Asuka, laughing softly. “Oh, right! Here...”

Asuka pulled something out from her bag— a small box wrapped in gift paper —and handed it over to Kasumi. “Happy birthday, Big Sis.”

Her face glew at once with the sight of that gift, Kasumi smiled and nodded briskly. “Thank you, Aa-chan!” she said, taking the gift from her.

“Asuka-chaaaaan!” 

Rokka emerged from afar, running towards her friend. “How dare you leave me in the—”

But she then spotted Popipa, all gathered in one place.

“O—oh, P—Popipa-san!! You're all here?!” she stammered.

“Of course!” Tae nodded. “Hey, why don't we bring them along for your birthday party, Kasumi?”

Rokka's freakout only intensified by this. “B—b—b—b—birthday party?!!”

“Sure!” Kasumi grinned. “You two want to come along? We have a really tasty cake!”

“...is cake the only thing in your mind?” Asuka sighed. “Oh, well. Rokka, you want to come too?”

“O—of course!” Rokka nodded nervously. “Oooh, to have a party with Popipa-san... this is the best!!”

With an uproar of laughter, the girls made their way back to Ryuseido. For Kasumi... it seems like this is shaping to be an exciting birthday.


	22. Extra.2 - Lights, Camera, Action! Mahō Sentai Pastelrangers!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following the success of the Pastelrangers MV and show, Chisato offered Popipa a little treat in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, with the recent PICO episode being Sentai-themed (as little as it was), I had to write something about it. Enjoy!

“Aya-senpai! Aya-senpaiiiii!”

Storming through the school hallway in a matter of seconds, Kasumi approached Aya, who was walking towards the school exit with Chisato. Both turned towards her, cocking their heads to the side.

“E—eh? Kasumi-chan, what's wrong?” asked Aya.

“You were so cool in the latest Pastelranger episode!!” Kasumi squealed, “when you dealt with all of those monsters alone... oooh, I really love that!”

“Ah— uhm... really?” Aya stammered, a bit shocked by this. “Well, thanks, Kasumi-chan!”

“How many times do I have to tell you, idiot?! Don't run in the halls!!”

Arisa came striding to Kasumi's side, gasping for breath after trying to catch her. She noticed Aya and Chisato, and immediately bowed her head.

“U—um, sorry about this!”

Both of their seniors laughed, while Kasumi lets out an apologetic giggle.

“Well— all five of us will be shooting another episode tomorrow,” said Aya. “It's gonna be super cool, since we're gonna record it in a real-life set!”

“Another episode...? Oh, you mean the Pastelranger show?” asked Arisa.

“Yuuup~! **Mahou Sentai, Pastelranger!** ”

Aya struck a rather extravagant pose as she chanted so. Kasumi clapped, but Chisato rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Our Pastelrangers MV apparently went so viral that our agency wanted to make a full show out of it,” said Chisato soon after. “We only had time to record brief three-minute episodes, but we're going to shoot a ten-minute episode tomorrow.”

“Wow, that's super cool...!” muttered Kasumi with admiration. She remembered helping Pastel*Pallettes with the MV as Poppinrangers... it was quite a fun experience.

“You know, you guys could come and see us if you want,” Chisato offered, “you can bring the rest of Popipa too.”

Kasumi's eyes lit up at once. “Wait, really?!” 

“Wait... can we let them?” Aya asked, uncertain about this. Plus, where did this generosity came from?

“We should be able to convince the crews. Besides, we really haven't paid you back after all of that,” said Chisato, giving a very meaningful smile towards Kasumi and Arisa.

“Eh? Paid them back after... what?” Aya blinked, feeling out of the loop.

“Nevermind.” Chisato waved her hand off. “Well? Are you all free tomorrow?”

“I guess we are... I'll check on with the others later,” Arisa replied.

“Great! I'll text Tae-chan about the location later.”

“Ooh, this is gonna so cool~!” Kasumi chirped. Despite being an actual crime fighter herself, she was still unable to contain her excitement.

“Well, then... we'll be off,” Chisato bid her farewell. “Come on, Aya-chan. We'll be late for the meeting.”

“Ah, right! See you, Kasumi-chan, Arisa-chan!”

With that, the two departed from Kasumi and Arisa's sight, leaving them behind.

“We get to see Pastel*Pallettes on set again, huh...?” muttered Arisa. 

“Let's go ask the others if they can come too!” Kasumi suggested.

“Yeah, yeah...”

* * *

The very next day...

After dragging their legs from the station, Kasumi, Arisa and Tae had arrived at their destination. They all gawked at the sight before them— Saitama Super Arena, filled to the brim with film crews and business people. The atmosphere felt so busy that if it wasn't for Kasumi's silent insistence, Arisa would've taken the train back.

“Where did they say they'll be?” asked Arisa, taking a sweeping look at their surroundings. 

“Chisato-senpai said that they're shooting at the front, so we'll probably meet them there,” Tae replied, looking over her texts.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!” Kasumi eagerly chirped. The three made their way towards the multi-purpose arena, passing through security after they mentioned about being Pastel*Pallettes' guests. 

Finally, they arrived at the front of the arena.

“Heeeey! Yoo-hoo! Over here!”

Kasumi, Tae and Arisa turned to see Pastel*Pallettes, in their casual wear and already having their make-ups on. The three quickly approached them.

“We've been expecting you here!” greeted Eve.

“Where's Rimi-chan and Saaya-chan?” asked Aya.

“They already have plans with Misaki for today, but they did wish all of you good luck!” Kasumi explained to them. “Anyway, are you guys starting already?”

“In a few minutes,” said Chisato, “we're gonna start shooting the non-suit scenes first, then we'll do the suit shots.”

“It's too bad they didn't allow us to do the stunts. Would've been really cool, y'know...” complained Hina, pouting sharply.

Eve gave a nod, looking just as disappointed. “I agree... I was really looking forward to show my sword skills, too...”

“These aren't just ordinary stunts, you two...” Chisato spoke, sounding increasingly tired.

“Excuse us!”

Kasumi stepped aside to make way for a few costume-wearing people. All of them wore an all-white, skin-tight suit except for one person, who wore a costume that resembles a humanoid rhinoceros, complete with tusks and all.

Arisa's eyes widened a little. “Wait, that's...”

“It's based on the monster that attacked during our first MV shooting!” Maya explained, looking rather giddy after the costume wearers passed. “Fuehehe~ the costume designs are no joke! Seeing them in action would be really awesome!”

“Yeah! Our suits are boppin', too!” Hina agreed, curving a wide grin on her pate.

“Pastel*Pallettes! We're ready for shooting!” called their director. The five looked and nodded to each other.

“Well, then... if you excuse us,” said Chisato.

“Good luck out there,” Tae waved them farewell. 

“We'll be watching from the sides!” Kasumi chirped.

The Pastel*Pallettes members stepped away from them, approaching the director for their instructions. Meanwhile, Kasumi, Tae and Arisa strolled off to look around, drinking in their busy surroundings.

“So this is how those Saturday morning shows are filmed...” muttered Arisa.

“Why don't we make our own? We have rhe costumes and all!” suggested Tae.

“Oooh, that's a great idea!” Kasumi agreed, eagerly looking towards the guitarist.

Arisa, on the other hand, groaned loudly. “No. We already have our hands full fighting real monsters, we don't have time fighting fake ones...”

“Oh, right... the hiding Buzzes,” Kasumi giggled.

“We can record the real fights,” said Tae, still not giving up with her idea.

For the umpteenth time, Arisa rolled her eyes. “And risk giving away our identities? Absolutely. Not.” 

“We can ask Kris to record for us!”

“No.”

“Just once?” Kasumi stepped in with her pleading eyes.

“No!”

“We don't have to show our faces?”

“That wouldn't even make sense for an actual show!”

“Aha!” Tae pointed a finger at her. “You were actually thinking about making a show!”

“Wh— no!!” Arisa screeched, her face reddening with both embarrassment and fury. “How the hell did you twist it like that?!”

“You were talking about how the show would make sense?”

“It's called a hypothesis, you idiot!!”

“Hypo... thesis?” repeated Kasumi cluelessly. “Isn't that... how plants eat sunlight?”

“That's photosynthesis!!”

“We can have a plant monster as one of the enemies,” Tae muttered.

“Aaaaah, can you two please just shut up?! You're giving me a headache!!”

Arisa yelled so loudly that everyone around her stopped and turned towards her. Realizing this, she quickly buried her face on her palms, while Kasumi and Tae lets out devilish giggles.

Dear God, going out with these two dunderheads was one of the worst decision Arisa had ever made throughout the year.

* * *

The first session of the shooting ended with only a few hiccups. Aya managed to stumble her lines so terribly it made the whole crew laugh, while Hina kept saying things not on the script because she thought it would "spice things up". Regardless, it was rather successful, and the crew are now moving onto the action scenes with the suits.

Kasumi, Tae and Arisa watched as the five Pastel*Pallettes personnels left the set to change into their Pastelrangers outfit, being replaced by stuntwomen already in their outfits. Apparently, the way it worked was that the stuntwomen would act out all of the action scenes first, then the Pastel*Pallettes girls will be performing the close-up shots and poses.

“Usually, the action scenes are entirely acted out by the stunt people... but since the suit design shows the face, we can't have that without it being obvious that they're a different person,” explained one of the crew members to the three, as they watched the suit actors carrying out a fight sequence.

“I see...” Kasumi pursed her lips and nodded a few times. “They're so cool, being able to move like that with those suits...!”

“It's not like we can't, you know,” Arisa responded.

“But our suits makes it easier for us to move! Plus, it feels cool inside!”

“Hm... true.”

They continued to watch the shooting process. Kasumi was starting to wonder, where are the actual Pastel*Pallettes members?

“Oh, look!”

Her answer arrived almost immediately, as they saw the girls now in their costumes emerge from the changing station. They're now watching the continuing stunt scenes, which involves a lot of quick movements from the bulky monster suit actor.

“Um... guys? Are you seeing this?”

Suddenly alerting Kasumi and Arisa, Tae glanced towards the top of the arena. The other two peered at where she was looking... and they saw it too.

Though they couldn't make out the exact figure, they noticed something— or someone —standing on top of the arena. The figure hadn't done anything, but its movements was very suspicious.

After walking back and forth, the figure strolled away and leapt down to the back of the arena.

“On the back!” Kasumi gasped. “You two, let's go!”

With their nods of agreement, Tae and Arisa followed Kasumi's lead, as they quickly left the shooting area for the back of the arena. Once there, what they found was...

“What... is that?!”

Now visible up close, the creature looked like a human grasshopper, complete with coarse green skin, a pair large red circles as eyes, and small horns protruding from the top of its head. However, not all of it looked organic— some parts of its body are coated with red metal plates, most notably its hands and its neck.

“You're a Buzz, aren't you?!” Kasumi shouted. The monster didn't answer— it didn't even make any noise.

“Something about it feels different...” muttered Tae, squinting as she tried to get a clearer look at this monster. However—

“Watch out!”

The three rolled away just as the monster's hands emitted a red-colored electric shock towards them.

“Whatever it is, it's not friendly!” Arisa gritted her teeth. “You sure we can take it on with just the three of us?”

“We have to! Otherwise, it'll disrupt the shooting!” 

Kasumi raised her right arm to the sky, before pulling it to her chest. The Miracle Riser emerged to her wrist, its Miracle Crystal emitting a radiant red glow.

“Let's go, you two! **Miracle Change!** ”

“ **Miracle Change!** ”

With a flash of light, the three transformed into Poppinrangers once again.

“Our sparkling and heart-pounding feeling will stop you today! Everyone, charge!”

The three Rangers stormed towards the bug monster, whom shot more electric waves towards them. 

“ **Weapon Call! Speed Mode!** ”

Tae called forth her **Rabbit's Feet** shoes, breaking the sound barrier as her legs carried her to the front of the monster in a matter of a second. 

“ **Jump Mode!** ”

Boosted by her shoes, Tae launched herself to the sky, about to descend with a kick. However, the monster leapt just as high as she was and punched her in the face. Tae managed to return the punch before the two were launched to the ground.

“O-Tae!”

Kasumi caught her body before she hit the floor, while Arisa ran towards the monster, summoning the **Green Grappler** whip to her hand. She hurled it towards the monster... but it leapt away before the whip could catch it. The bug monster now stood on the arena's roof, shooting small bolts of red lightning towards them.

“You won't get away!” said Tae, dodging the oncoming bolts before leaping high again, landing on top of the roof. The two clashed and traded blows in exceedingly fast speeds, though the monster had a slight edge over Tae due to its electric attacks.

“We have to help her!” shouted Kasumi.

“They're too fast... if we use our Poppin' Blaster, there's a chance O-Tae will get hit,” warned Arisa.

“Then it's time for Miracle Sparkling Red!”

“Huh? How can that help— oh... oh, right! Do it, Kasumi!”

“Yuh-huh! Let's make a sparkling miracle... **Super Miracle Change!** ”

A blinding white light surrounded Kasumi. The moment it fades away, she's now donning the white Miracle Sparkling Red suit.

“Weapon Call: **Starlight Slicer**!”

A shining red longsword with a star-shaped hilt emerged from her hand, its five tips decorated with five, different colored crystals. As she held the sword up, the orange-colored crystal lit up.

“Here!” Kasumi reached and grabbed Arisa on the shoulder, which made her reel back at first.

“W—wait, right no—”

“ **Glow Flash!** ”

The two disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing on the arena's roof.

“At least give me a warning first!” Arisa yelled, relieving herself from Kasumi's grasp. Kasumi just gave a cheeky laugh.

“Uwaah!”

All of a sudden, they saw Tae flying their way, managing to land on her feet after being knocked back.

“O-Tae!” Kasumi wailed, “you okay?!”

“I'm... fine,” Tae nodded shakily, her gaze set on the bug monster. “It's pretty tough...”

“Don't worry, we're here now! Time to end this!”

The monster shot off another wave of lightning towards them. Standing guard, Arisa conjured a barrrier that protected them from the attack, while Kasumi charged an attack on her blade, with it emitting a prismatic glow.

“ **Quintuple Ray!** ”

The prismatic light turned into an energy wave homing towards the monster. It should result in a clean hit, obliterating the monster in one strike. However...

“Huh—”

The bug monster leapt above the energy wave, arcing its descent towards Kasumi and landing a devastating kick on her.

“Kasumi!!”

By the force of that kick, Kasumi was sent flying away from where she stood, off from the roof and into the ground below. As her sword flew off her hand, she could feel gravity reeling her in lower and lower.

And lower.

And lower.

And lower.

* * *

“Cut! Cut!”

The shouts of the director rang all the way through the shooting set. The crew had finished filming all of the stunt scenes, and are now proceeding with the scenes with the actual Pastel*Pallettes members.

“Maya-san, can you be a little more serious looking next time? You were focusing more on the monster,” he said.

“O—oh, sorry!” Maya ruffled the back of her hair. “I—I was admiring the costume... I'll do better next time!”

“Maya-chan really can't stop fangirling, huh?” Hina commented with a grin.

“Hina-san... I know we worked around your improvs a few times before, but that last one didn't work at all. Please stay on your script,” advised the director.

Hina's smile turned into a sharp pout. “Whaaaaat? All I'm doing is making the dialogues zestier! Uuh, first not allowing us to do the stunts, and now this...”

“Hina-chan, I know you like to improv... but there's a time and place for that,” said Chisato. 

“Alright, from the top, everyone!” the director clapped. “Camera ready? We're rolling.... one, two, three, action!”

“We will stop you now, you freaky monster!” Aya declared. “I am **Pastel Pink** , the fluffy pink hero!”

“Light will conquer the darkness! The radiant hero, **Pastel Yellow**!” Chisato shouted, surprisingly being very into her character.

Hina grinned smugly. “This is gonna be easy as pie! Here comes **Pastel Blue** , the super boppin' hero!” 

“Monsters like you don't have a place here! **Pastel Green** , the tactical hero!” shouted Maya, looking more determined than ever.

Eve also gave a confident grin. “We'll use our spirit to defeat you all! The samurai hero, **Pastel Purple**!” 

“Together, we are...”

“ **Mahou Sentai, Pastelrangers!** ”

Smoke bombs were set off behind them, providing five colorful smokes in the background as they struck their hero poses.

“Pastelrangers?!” the monster suit actor exclaimed. “You won't beat me today!”

“That's where you're wrong,” said Aya. “Because we're going to put a stop to your evil sche—”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Like a meteor, Kasumi crashed to the floor, leaving behind a crack below her. Her body didn't even have the chance to fully comprehend the pain she just received, because the bug monster had descended to her again, trying to land a follow-up kick.

Kasumi rolled to the side and stood up as the monster stomped the ground, thrusting her fist into its face. She managed to land a few hits in, before the bug monster dodged one of her attacks and kicked her back a few feet.

“P—Poppinrangers...?!” Aya stammered, frozen in place as she watched the fight unfolded.

“Woohoo! It's never boring with them around!” Hina clapped cheerfully. “Go, go, Poppinranger!”

Along with Tae, Arisa landed before them soon after. She turned around to see the Pastel*Pallettes members.

“All of you! Stay back!” she shouted at them.

“Ari— I mean, Purple! Look!”

Tae brought her attention to a gathering of shadows on the floor. There was no object that casted this shadow... so what could it be?

Suddenly, the shadows rose from the ground and became large blobs... which immediately took shape into horrifying monsters. Their bodies are hunched over and their arms are longer than natural, with sharp claws as fingers. They had red gleaming eyes and a solid black skin, obscuring any other features they had.

“What the hell are these?!” Arisa exclaimed.

Tae got to her stance again. “Definitely not Hives... and they're definitely gonna attack us!”

Sure enough, a few of them began lunging towards the two. Tae kicked them down with astounding speed and accuracy, but more immediately charged towards them after that, their claws raised high. Arisa flailed her whip to knock them all down, smacking it to the ground to keep their distances.

“Chisato-senpai! Everyone!” Tae called, turning around as Arisa held the shadow creatures off. “Please get out of here, it's not safe!”

Chisato felt a bit shocked at being addressed specifically, but she recovered quickly. “A—alright. Come on, let's leave it to them!” 

The five girls left from the area, along with some of the crewmates. It was rather cumbersome running with such a bulky suit, but they managed to do it.

However, just as they're about to reach a shelter... Aya stopped. She noticed something on the ground... something red and shiny, buried amidst piles of dirt and stone.

She kneeled down and cleared the debris, pulling the object out from it.

“This is... Miss Sparkling Red's sword?!”

The Starlight Slicer looked shiny, reflecting the bright sunlight. Aya took a careful look at it, caressing the sword as delicately as possible.

“Aya-chan? What are you doing?”

Hearing Chisato's voice behind her, Aya turned around and showed her the blade.

“I... I have to give this back!”

“Huh?! You can't— wait, Aya-chan!”

Ignoring the calls made towards her, Aya sprinted off with the sword in hand. 

Meanwhile, about Sparkling Red herself...

“Haaaaa!”

Kasumi threw punches and kicks at the bug monster's way, but almost all of them were deflected or dodged. It tried blasting Kasumi away with a thunder shock, which she evaded by cartwheeling away.

“I don't have time to look for my Starlight Slicer...” she muttered. “ **Weapon Call!** ”

Raising both of her hands, she summoned forth the guitar-shaped **Starry Axe** on her right hand, and the green **Brave Lance** on her left.

“Guess these'll have to do for now!”

Kasumi charged forward again, swerving and swaying through the bolts of lightning sent her way. Once she's close, she tried overwhelming the monster with a series of quick slashes and thrusts. It seemed to be working, as the monster took some critical blows from her flurry. The moment she was about to cut the monster down, however, it leapt away and blasted her with more electric shocks, this time landing square in her chest.

Kasumi was forced back once again, but she refused to fall. Not here, not now.

“ **Sparkling Wave Slash! Lance Arrow Shot!** ”

Kasumi sliced the air with her axe to launch a red energy gale, while thrusting her lance forward to launch a green energy arrow. The two attacks were easily avoided by the monster, as it leapt towards her again to land yet another electric-charged kick.

“I won't let you!” yelled Kasumi, swinging both of her weapons as a last ditch effort. She could see the flashes of her axe and lance making contact... before being knocked all the way back and into the ground, her weapons falling off from her hands again.

Struggling to her feet, she saw the bug monster doing the same. Although the body looked quite damaged... it didn't show any signs of weariness.

“Geez, talk about persistent...” Kasumi groaned. Coming from her, though... that was pretty rich.

“Miss Sparkling Red!”

“H—huh?!”

Aya suddenly came into the scene, carrying with her the Starlight Slicer.

“Aya-senpai?! What are you doing here?!” she yelled, letting something slip amidst her panic.

“"Aya... -senpai"? What do you me—”

But the monster didn't want to wait for an idle chat. It ran towards Aya in an instant, about to perform a charged kick on her.

“Watch out!!”

“W—waaaaaah!!”

Wailing in fear, Aya reflectively raised the sword to her face level... and something that Kasumi didn't expect to see happened.

The sword's blade emitted a soft green glow, before firing off a series of green energy gales that knocked the monster away.

“Eh... huh?”

Even Aya couldn't believe what happened. Did she just... used the sword's power?

“That's... **Pastel Slice**...!” Kasumi gasped. “The Pastel*Pallettes Spirit Crystal was reacting to her...?”

That's the only explanation. After all, that crystal did originate from her, along with the rest of Pastel*Pallettes.

“Aya-chan!”

“Eh?! You guys?!”

As if her confusion didn't end there, Aya now found her bandmates before her.

“Man, stealing all the glory for yourself? That's not very boppin' of you, Aya-chan,” Hina uttered with a frown.

“A—ah... I'm sorry!” Aya bowed her head. “But... what are you all doing here?”

“To make sure you're safe, of course!” Eve chirped, “Pastel*Pallettes isn't complete without you. And if you're going to fight, we'll join, too!”

“Well... by fight, we meant returning the sword,” corrected Maya.

“You better not run off like that again, Aya-chan,” Chisato softly reprimanded her with that signature smile. “Because we're here with you.”

“You guys...”

As inappropriate as the situation was, Aya's eyes began to well up.

“Geez, right now? Well, that's Aya-chan for you,” Hina uttered with a laugh.

Unfortunately, their moment was short-lived as the monster came to view again. It charged towards the five girls, but...

“No, you don't!”

Kasumi came storming in from out of nowhere, smashing her axe to the back of the monster's skull. While it was still reeling, she briefly moved towards the Pastel*Pallettes members.

“Aya-sen— uh, I mean... all of you! Please hold that sword together! Each of you, use one hand to hold the hilt— or the hand of someone touching the hilt, if you can't fit through,” Kasumi instructed, as the bug monster came back and attacked her with a barrage of punches, which she managed to dodge and counter with a slash.

“A—alright!” Aya nodded, tightening the grip on the sword. “You heard her, everyone!”

The other members followed, linking their hands together on the sword's hilt. The green light emitting from the blade grew stronger and brighter.

Kasumi picked up her Brave Lance and threw a glance at the sword. “Now raise the sword high! Point it to the sky! And then when I say the word, swing it!”

“Got it!”

The monster came leaping towards Kasumi again, but she managed to roll to the right and land a blow with both of her weapons, leaving it stunned for a little bit— enough for an opening.

“Now! Swing!”

The Pastel*Pallettes girls vigorously swung the sword together, sending a gargantuan energy gale towards the monster. It tried leaping away... but the energy gale followed it wherever it went. The monster couldn't outrun it, and in the end, it was obliterated by the gale attack.

“Yes! It worked!” Kasumi thrusted her fist to the air, along with cheers from the Pastel*Pallettes girls.

However, she then spotted something falling from the remains of the monster. Kasumi caught it... and it turned out to be a pair of shiny, pebble-like objects. 

“What... is this?”

Kasumi could feel a tremendous power radiating from these small orbs. They felt nothing like Miracle Crystals... the powers they held felt rather ominous.

“Ka— uh, Red!”

Tae and Arisa arrived on the scene, seemingly finished with their own battles. Kasumi held onto the orbs for now, returning her weapons to the Miracle Riser— except the Starlight Slicer, which is still in Aya's hands.

The three approached Aya, Kasumi having an ear-to-ear smile that was obscured by the helmet as per usual.

“U—uhm,” Aya nervously gulped, “d—did we do good, Miss Sparkling Red?”

Chisato sighed, while Hina lets out a snort. Kasumi, however, patted her upperclassman in the shoulder. Well... Aya doesn't know that she's her junior.

“You did really good! You put your life on the line to return my sword, and you defeated the monster along with your friends!”

“Really...?!” Aya's mouth fell open, her face looked as if a heavy weight was lifted off her shoulders. “Phew, thank goodness...”

“Sparkling Red-chan, why are there only three of you?” asked Hina.

“Eh— erm...” Kasumi wracked her brain for a lie, “they're on, uh... vacation! Yeah, vacation!”

“A very long vacation. We exchange shifts,” Tae came with the assist, and Hina immediately looked convinced.

“Anyway... you guys were filming something, right?” asked Arisa, even though she knew well what they are filming. “Any idea what'll happen to that?”

“The crew people retreated for now... maybe they'll repurpose some footage we've already shot?” said Maya, going forth with an assumption.

“Regardless, there'll be absolutely no way we'll be able to continue filming... how unfortunate,” Chisato muttered.

“After all of that effort...” Eve grumbled.

“Cut! Cut! That was perfect!! Absolute perfection!!”

“Ehh?!”

Emerging from the bushes and trees, the producer and two cameramen made their presence known.

“Wait— you were filming us this whole time?!” Aya yelped in utter shock.

“Well... we were filming Miss Sparkling Red here until you all came along, so we decided to wing it,” said the director. “Good job, by the way. You are a natural, Miss!”

“Ehehe— thanks a bunch!” Kasumi giggled cheekily.

“Thanks to this, we're gonna able to make a special Mahou Sentai Pastelrangers episode! **_'Monster-fighting Action in Real Life! Pastelrangers Meets The Real Poppinrangers!'_** The fans will love the hell out of it!” the director continued, unable to contain himself.

“I see... that would be super cool to watch!” Hina agreed.

“Phew, good thing we can salvage something even better out of all of this,” said Chisato, a small smile on her lips.

“Can we have the footages as well?” asked Tae all of a sudden.

“Oh, sure! You're free to ask whatever you want, Poppinrangers!” the director replied.

“Cool! We can make our own show with the footages too!” 

“W—wait a second, you're still thinking about that?!” yelled Arisa, unable to believe what she just heard.

“Why not? We already have the stock action scenes. All we have to do is stick them together and make an episode.”

“It's not as simple as that, you idiot! I'd have to edit all of the footages first!”

“Wait, so you're volunteering to edit it, Purple? Wow, you really are thinking about it too...”

“Wha— no! No!! No!!! Aaaaaargh, you're so annoying!!”

A chorus of laughter followed Arisa's meltdown. Really, the atmosphere couldn't get any more positive than this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter in this whole fic, clocking in at 4,5k words. And it's a bonus chapter.
> 
> The original plan was to finish this after the PICO episode was released, but then I started writing way too much stuff and it took me longer in the end. 
> 
> Still, this was very fun to write! In case you haven't done it yet, do read my second fic from this series, Glowranger vs. Roseranger. You might find out more about the monsters featured here. 😉

**Author's Note:**

> Wowzers, I can't believe I actually finished this. Initially, I planned this fic to only have 12 chapters, but I had so much fun writing that I ended up with 20. Oh, well.
> 
> If you managed to get this far, thank you so, soo much for reading! Despite the inconsistencies, the rushed storylines and the dull action scenes, I hope you enjoyed your time here.
> 
> For the time being, feel free to follow me over on Twitter [@shirofonica](https://www.twitter.com/shirofonica) for ramblings about band girls and giant alien spandex suits.
> 
> And... that's it, I guess. Thanks again for reading, and have a great day/night!


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